2008:020

M A S T E R ' S T H E S I S

An Investigation on InfluencingFactors on Tourists Shopping

- Attitude of Iranian HandmadeCarpet in Isfahan

Marzieh Yazdani

Luleå University of Technology

Master Thesis, Continuation Courses Marketing and e-commerce

Department of Business Administration and Social SciencesDivision of Industrial marketing and e-commerce

2008:020 - ISSN: 1653-0187 - ISRN: LTU-PB-EX--08/020--SE

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APPROVAL

NAME: Marzieh Yazdani

DEGREE: 90.90

TITLE OF THESIS: An Investigation on Influencing Factors on Tourists Shopping Attitude of Iranian Handmade Carpet in Isfahan.

EXAMINING COMMITTEE:

Dr. Joao sarmento

Dr. Peter U.C. Dieke

Dr. Mehdi Jamshidian

Dr. Bahram Ranjbarian

CHAIR

Dr. Iran Ghazi

Date: 2007.12.18

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Acknowledgements This master s thesis was written during the fall of 2007 at University of Isfahan in fulfillment of the master program in hospitality management and tourism, jointly held with Lulea university of technology .Although, sometimes to reach the goal has been hard and nearly impossible, the hard work that lead to the completion of this thesis has both been intresting and stimulating. This thesis would not have been finished without the support of different people that I have met while working this thesis. First of all I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr.Joao sarmento & Dr. Mehdi Jamshidian. Secondly, I would like to thank my family, my mother, father, brothers and sister for their unconditional love and support. Special thanks Professor Salehi Sangari, Professor Jafar Jafari, Dr .Shahin and Dr Dehghan Nejad for their great efforts to arrange and organize the Tourism and Hospitality course. Thank to all my other professors who thought and guided me during the course. Marzieh Yazdani

December 2007

3

Abstract

Tourists are eager to take something home as souvenirs form the trip and therefore, they

decide to go shopping. One of the most common types of souvenirs is handicrafts and

arts. The existence of various artistic attractions and handicrafts along historic

monuments in Iran is a factor to attract tourists to Iran. Iranian handicrafts occupy the

first and foremost level of comparison to those of the other countries in the world from

the viewpoint of diversity of production involving as many as 150 branches. The

researcher’s intention of this study was to recognize the factors affecting the attitude of

tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan. Having reviewed the related

literatures and the researches done in home and abroad, the factors which could affect

the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets were recognized and

categorized. These factors are: advertisements by salesmen, carpet quality, price, and

carpet beauty.

In the present research, the sample size was determined by conducting a primary study

and defining the variance of primary sample and the intended number of samples was

selected carefully and randomly from the population. Then the validity and reliability of

the questionnaire was determined. The used questionnaire in this research consisted of 5

common, and 28 specialized questions which were supporting the hypotheses of the

research. Data was analyzed using the frequency percent techniques, and in the chapter

related to the deductive statistics, one-sample t test was used to analyze and

approve/disapprove the questions supporting the research hypotheses.

Key words: tourist, attitude, handicraft, carpet

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Table of Contents Title ........................................................................................................................... Page

Chapter1: Introduction

1.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1

1.2. Description and expression of studied issue ....................................................... 2

1.3. Literature review ................................................................................................. 3

1.4. Objectives ........................................................................................................... 6

1.4.1. Main objectives ................................................................................................ 6

1.4.2. Other objectives ............................................................................................... 6

1.5. Research questions .............................................................................................. 8

1.5.1. Main question .................................................................................................. 8

1.5.2. Other questions ................................................................................................ 8

1.6. Hypotheses ......................................................................................................... 8

1.7. Methodology ....................................................................................................... 9

1.7.1. Research Purpose ............................................................................................ 9

1.7.2. Statistical universe ........................................................................................... 10

1.7.3. Method of sampling ....................................................................................... 10

1.7.4. Volume of sample and calculation method ..................................................... 10

1.7.5. Data collection method: (questionnaire, interview, etc.) ................................ 11

1.7.6. The analysis tool ............................................................................................. 11

1.8. Outline of the thesis ............................................................................................ 11

Chapter 2: literature review

2. 1.Introduction ......................................................................................................... 13

2.2. History of handmade carpet in Iran .................................................................... 14

2.2.1. Carpet in pre-Islamic Iran ................................................................................ 15

2.2.2. Carpet in post-Islamic Iran .............................................................................. 15

2.2. 3.Carpet industry drop-off in Seljukian and Mongolian epoch .......................... 15

2.2. 4.Prosperity of handmade carpets ....................................................................... 15

2.3. Attitude toward shopping experiences ................................................................ 16

2.4. Tourist Shopping ..................................... 19

2.4.1. Tourists and needs to shop ............................................................................... 21

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2.4.2. The desire for keepsakes and memories .......................................................... 23

2.4. 3.Cultural linkage ................................................................................................ 25

2.4.4. Shopping and buying ....................................................................................... 25

2.4.5. Factors influencing shopping as a motivation for travel ................................. 27

2.4.6. Merchandise (Handicrafts) ............................................................................. 28

2.4.7. Destination ....................................................................................................... 30

2.4.8. Price advantages .............................................................................................. 30

2.4.9. Shopping motivation and satisfaction relationship .......................................... 31

2.4.10. Craft selection criteria .................................................................................... 34

2.4.11. Aesthetic appreciation .................................................................................... 34

2.4.12. Quality of Craftsmanship ............................................................................... 35

2.5. Catachrestic of Iranian handmade carpet ............................................................ 35

2. 5. 1. Study the situation of three major countries importing carpet ....................... 35

2.5.2. Review of Iranian carpet market and customers’ taste .................................... 37

2.5.3. Quality of handmade carpet ............................................................................. 38

2.5.4. Material of carpet ............................................................................................. 39

2.5.5. Carpet designs .................................................................................................. 40

2.5.5.1. Kerman .......................................................................................................... 43

2.5.5. 2.Shiraz ............................................................................................................ 43

2.5.5.3.Isfahan ............................................................................................................ 44

2.5.5.4. Hamadan ....................................................................................................... 44

2.5.5.5. Kermanshah .................................................................................................. 45

2.5.5.6. Tabriz ............................................................................................................ 46

2.5.5. 7.Khorassan ...................................................................................................... 46

2.5.6. Colors and Dyes ............................................................................................... 45

2.5.7. Traditional Arts in Iran .................................................................................... 48

2.6 Advertisement ...................................................................................................... 49

2.6.1. Tourism advertisements ................................................................................... 51

2.6.2. Persian Carpet and advertisement .................................................................... 52

2.7. Textile souvenir .................................................................................................. 52

2.8. Tourists’ souvenir behavior researches ............................................................... 55

2.8.2 Textile souvenir researches ............................................................................... 55

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Chapter3: Methodology

3.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 62

3.2. Research purpose ................................................................................................ 62

3.3. Research approach .............................................................................................. 63

3.4. Research strategy ................................................................................................ 64

3.5. Statistical universe .............................................................................................. 65

3.6. Sampling method and the volume of sample ...................................................... 65

3.7. Data collection method ....................................................................................... 66

3.8. Data gathering tool .............................................................................................. 66

3.8.1. Questionnaire ................................................................................................... 66

3.9. Validity and Reliability ....................................................................................... 67

3.9.1. Validity ............................................................................................................ 67

3.9.2. Reliability ......................................................................................................... 67

3.10. Research variables ............................................................................................ 68

3.11. Used statistical methods .................................................................................... 68

3.11.1. Freedman test ................................................................................................. 69

3.11.2. One-sample t test ........................................................................................... 69

3.12. summery ............................................................................................................ 69

Chapter 4: Research Finding and Result

4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 70

4.2. Examining demographic information of statistical sample ................................ 70

4.2.1. Examining statistical sample based on gender ................................................ 70

4.2.2. Examining statistical sample based on nationality .......................................... 71

4.2.3. Examining statistical sample based on age ...................................................... 72

4.2.4. Examining statistical sample based on marital status ...................................... 73

4.2.5. Examining statistical sample based on education level ................................... 74

4.3. Examining the research hypotheses .................................................................... 75

4.4. Ranking the factors influencing the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpets in

Isfahan ........................................................................................................................ 79

4.5. Summary ............................................................................................................. 80

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Chapter 5: Research conclusion

5. 1.Introduction ......................................................................................................... 81

5.2. Summary of research .......................................................................................... 81

5.3. Results ................................................................................................................. 82

5.4. Limitations .......................................................................................................... 82

5.5. Recommendations ............................................................................................... 83

5.5.1. Main propositions ............................................................................................ 83

5.5.2. Suggestions for future research ........................................................................ 83

References .............................................................................................. 85

Appendices 6.1. Appendix A: Research Questionnaire

6.2. Appendix B: Research tables

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List of tables

Table 2.1: Possible motivations for tourist shopping ................................................ 22

Table 2.2: Reasons for shopping on most recent trip (in percentages) ..................... 23

Table2.3: Knots of Rugs &quality ............................................................................. 39

Table 2.4: Source of Rugs & Carpets Coloration ...................................................... 48

Table 2.5: types and characteristics of textile souvenir consumer tourists ................ 54

Table 2.6: Categories of content for analysis of favorite tourist textiles ................... 56

Table 2.7: Content categories for analysis of authenticity in crafts ........................... 58

Table 3.1: Relevant situations for different research strategies. ............................... 64

Table 4.1: Examining statistical sample based on nationality ................................... 72

Table 4. 2: one-sample t test related to first hypothesis ............................................. 76

Table 4.3: one-sample t test related to second hypothesis ......................................... 77

Table 4.4: one-sample t test related to third hypothesis ............................................ 78

Table 4.5: one-sample t test related to fourth hypothesis .......................................... 79

Table 4.6: Ranking the factors influencing the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

carpet in Isfahan ........................................................................................................ 79

Table 4.7: Freedman test ............................................................................................ 79

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List of figures Figure1.1: Outline of thesis ....................................................................................... 12

Figure2.1: Tourists shopping behavior ...................................................................... 19

Figure2.2: The elements of leisure and tourist shopping .......................................... 20

Figure 2.3: Functional –leisure shopping continuum ............................................... 26

Figure 2.4: Factors influencing shopping as a motivation for travel ......................... 27

Figure 2.5: Model of Japanese tourists’ tendency to buy .......................................... 33

Figure 2.6: The map of handmade Persian carpet .................................................... 37

Figure 2.7: The Map of Iran ...................................................................................... 42

Figure 2 .8: Map of Kerman ...................................................................................... 43

Figure 2.9: Map of Shiraz .......................................................................................... 43

Figure 2.10: Map of Isfahan ...................................................................................... 44

Figure 2.11: Map of Hamedan ................................................................................... 44

Figure 2.12: Map of Kermanshah .............................................................................. 45

Figure 2.13: Map of Tabriz ........................................................................................ 45

Figure 2.14: Map of Korassan ................................................................................... 46

Figure 2.15: A Model for Predictive Measurements ................................................. 50

Figure.4.1: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on gender ........................ 71

Figure.4.2: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on age ............................ 73

Figure4.3: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on marital status .............. 74

Figure.4.4: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on education level .......... 75

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Chapter 1

Introduction 1.1. Introduction

Tourism is one of the developing industries as well as the most revenue in the world.

For many regions of the world, tourism serves as a factor of economic growth and in

some other regions, the development of this industry has caused in the prosperity of

other economic sectors of those regions. Therefore, enforcing and encouraging the

relationship between tourism sector and other economic sectors intensifies this effect

upon the economy. At the beginning of the third millennium A. D., the annual trade of

tourism industry in the world has gone beyond five billion dollars. Tourists are eager to

take something home as souvenirs form the trip and therefore, they decide to go

shopping. One of the most common types of souvenirs is handicrafts and arts. The

existence of various artistic attractions and handicrafts along historic monuments in Iran

is a factor to attract tourists to Iran. Iranian handicrafts occupy the first and foremost

level of comparison to those of the other countries in the world from the viewpoint of

diversity of production involving as many as 150 branches. This diversity tells a lot

about the history and the process of development, methods of production, designs,

motifs and coloring.

Iranian traditional floor coverings such as mat, felt, kilim, Sumacs, zilu, gabbe and

carpet and also rug table have maintained a unique position in terms of their

economical, social and cultural characteristics compared to the other crafts.

Iranian people are very famous because of their highly developed artistic craftsmanship

that can be seen in their carpets, a type of thick rug or mat comprising fibers and is

usually woven in cotton and/or wool thread in various colors, and in accordance with

the pre-designed patterns.

Since the Iranian producer’s taste is different from the tourists’, shopping Iranian

handmade carpets, it seems to be important to know their attitudes. Thus, we will

analyze in this study the effect of various factors such as price, quality, advertisement

and beauty of Iranian handmade carpet. Moreover, in this chapter we will discuss

description and expression of studied issue, literature review, objectives of this study,

research questions, hypotheses, summery of methodology and out line of thesis.

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1.2. Description and expression of studied issue

Nowadays, any authenticity of artistic and cultural qualities is considerable and

defensible when it has economical position and justification, and perhaps fortunately

one of the various types of artistic phenomena is carpet which has intensive effect upon

the economy of our country, simultaneously by its traditional and native traits (Soor- e-

Esrafil, 1993).

Because of the historical and decorative aspects and consistency of consumption,

Iranian carpets and rugs has a vital role in handicrafts.

One of handicrafts is handmade carpet which has led many individuals of Iran

population, especially villagers, have jobs. More than ten million people involve in

selling carpets in the internal and external markets and nearly one third of active

manpower of country are working in carpet weaving.

Regarding the lack of opportunities to work and exceeding the manpower in the rural

societies resulted from population increase and the lack of suitable activities which can

absorb extra manpower, diversifying the industry of handmade carpet and related

sectors can be profitable to attract inactive manpower in rural areas. Also the share of

this product exports, after oil export, is in the first rank among non-oil exports and

brings much foreign exchanges for our country, it can be said that carpet has a specific

position in national economy in terms of employment, surplus value and exports.

Regarding to the fact that oil resources are exhaustible, the role of carpet industry is

obvious in our country.

The role of purchasing goods as one of tourists’ activities in retail market is increasing.

Although the purchase is not the first motivation of traveling but it is one of important

factors in a tourist’s experiments. One third of a tourist’s expenses in travel is devoted

to purchase (Hu & Yo, 2007). The tourist’s purchase activity in less-developed

countries, due to the low price of products, has an important role in attracting tourists

(Ibid).

Textile handicrafts and similar goods such as carpets and woven materials are of

important items for tourists to purchase.

Effective factors in encouraging tourists to purchase textile handicrafts in touristy

destinations are:

1. Suitable and low price in expenses of purchasing.

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2. Higher quality of handicrafts in place of purchasing.

3. Beauty of design and color.

4. Trust in the authenticity of the product.

5. Trust in the advertisements by merchants of handicrafts (Littrell, 1994).

According to the authenticity and truth in Iranian carpets, great deals of tourists are

interested in purchasing Iranian handmade carpets during their travel to Iran.

In this study, we try to investigate the effective factors, such as price, quality, beauty,

and advertisements, on the attitude of tourists who purchase the handmade carpets.

Independent variables, considered in this study, are as follows: Advertisements by

sellers, quality, price, and beauty of Iranian carpets.

The dependent variable is the attitude of the tourist who purchases the handmade

Iranian carpet.

1.3. Literature review

Iranians’ knowledge about weaving techniques dates back to 5000 B.C. when Iranians

wove simple clothes to meet their first needs using wool threads (The organization of

handcrafts of Iran, 1978).

The First Iranian Carpet- Pazirik- was woven in the first millennium A. D. it was found

sound frozen among the icebergs in Russia after more than two thousands years because

of durability of its silk (Azarpaad and Rezavi, 1982). The "Baharestan" Carpet, which

was woven in silk, gold and silver during the epoch of “Khosrow parviz” the King of

“Sasanians”, is one of the other valuable Iranian carpets. Foundation of “Harat” School

in 15th century opened a new chapter in the history of Iranian carpet industry and

reached its peak during the "Safavid" epoch (16th and 17th centuries).

During this period, Iranian carpet found its world wide authenticity in terms of design

and motif, color and dyeing techniques, and quality of weaving. “Ardebil”,

“Shekarfaah” and “Chelsea” carpets are of masterpieces of this period (Namjoo and

Khansari, 2002). In recent centuries, Iranian carpet has been very briefly the subject of

foreign magazines. But the recognition of Iranian carpet began from 15th century

(Edwards, 1975).

In 1954, one hundred thousand peoples were working in the carpet weaving industry

and twenty five percents of total revenue from non-oil exports was obtained from this

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industry in 1955 (The organization of handcrafts of Iran, 1975). Before 1964, the State

didn’t pay any attention to other types of handicrafts except the carpet industry, and by

establishing the organization of handicrafts in this year it began to market and to

advertise for selling carpets inside and outside the country (The handicrafts organization

of Iran, 1978).

Before the Islamic Revolution, ninety percents of Iranian carpets were exported to

Europe and Middle East. In Europe, Germany and Switzerland were the main customers

of Iranian carpets. Also, U. S. markets were of the most important ones for Iranian

carpets around the world and as a result, the taste of Americans about Iranian carpet was

an important factor in evolution and reformation of design, motif and color of

handmade carpets so that some of Kerman designs and motifs were woven less than

before, because of the tendency to simple and popular patterns in the U.S (the

organization of handicrafts of Iran, 1975).

In the first years of Islamic Revolution, inflation and issues resulted from the revolution,

the invasion of home investments to purchase carpet as worthy products, custom issues

related to exports, lack of attention to marketing, and production of poor quality carpet

were some of the problems Iranian carpet industry encountered (The committee for

village industries, 1983).

The year 1984 was the peak for Iranian carpet exports after the Islamic revolution, and

it amounted to thirty one percent of non-oil exports and in the following years this issue

had a descending trend so that in the years between 1999 to 2004 Iranian share of carpet

exports encountered with reduction of 13.1%, 14.7%, 18.2%, 11.4%, and 12.4%,

respectively.

Today ten million persons are working in carpet industry directly or indirectly and

sellers comprise ten percents of carpet activists (The development challenges, 2007).

The countries with high unemployment rates in the past such as Pakistan, India, and

China have faced to the carpet industry. The existence of cheap manpower, lack of

growth in the rate of inflation, governmental support for the carpet industry, and

considering the taste of customers carefully have led these countries to outrun Iran in

the world wide market and specially Turkey by joining the European Union (League) in

the year 1955 exempted from paying imports tax and turned into a competitor for Iran

(Shajari, Gharami, 2002).

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In this field various researches have been done inside and outside the country that are as

follows:

Hu and Yo (2007) have said that the tourists’ criterion to select handicrafts is multi-

dimensional with a wide range including cultural relationship, transfer facilities, method

of using and maintaining handicrafts, enjoyment resulted from purchase, mastery and

proficiency in handicrafts production.

Littrell (1990) says in an essay that the reasons for tourist’s interest to purchase textile

handicrafts are the experience from the purchase comprising the contact with seller and

artist, establishing the cultural and historical relationship, suitable price, the higher

quality of products.

Littrell et al, (1993) believe the authenticity of raw materials, color, proficiency in

production handicrafts, products quality, beauty of color and design, the ways the

handicrafts are being used, the history of producing country, tourists’ experience from

the purchase, the validity of advertisements by the producing country make the

handicrafts valid to the tourist.

Many famous Iranistics such as professor Poop and Grishman consider handicrafts as

the noble Iranian art and in spite of fluctuations Iranian handicrafts have encountered

with in some periods, but this industry has attracted the world peoples’ attention by its

economic, social, and cultural aspects and most of the experts believe Iran as one of

three most important poles of handicrafts in Asia and in terms of diversity it may be on

top of the rest counties (Nayini, 2000).

Alvani and shahrokh (1994) believe that the development of handicrafts can attract

more tourists and activate handicrafts in suburb areas. They believe that tourists come to

Iran to buy carpets as they go to India to buy ivory. They consider the reputation of

Iranian carpet as a factor leading tourists to buy them.

The Iranian organization for handicrafts (1975) knows handicrafts as a tool to represent

the nations’ civilization and considers establishing the handicrafts exhibitions as a factor

for marketing and attracting tourists and has concluded that tourism industry and rural

handicrafts interact and can cause to increase the income of developing countries per

capita.

Azizi (2003) has concluded in his essay that among the traits of Iranian handmade

carpet market are diversity, the number of designs, motif and the color of them. Some

15

problems for customers shopping Iranian carpets are inability to order their favorites,

lack of bar-code and I.D. for carpets, and not paying attention to the customers’

interests.

Previous researches didn’t pay mach attention to the effective factors on the attitudes of

tourists shopping Iranian carpets in Isfahan. We tried to investigate this subject in this

research.

1.4. Objectives

1.4.1. Main objectives

Determining the most influential factors and attitudes of tourists shopping for Iranian

handmade carpets in Isfahan.

1.4.2. Other objectives

1. Rating the effect of advertisements by merchants selling Iranian handmade carpet on

the attitudes of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

2. Rating the effect of Iranian handmade carpets’ quality on the attitudes of tourists

shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

3. Rating the effect of Iranian handmade carpets’ beauty on the attitudes of tourists

shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

4. Rating the effect of price on the attitudes of tourists shopping Iranian handmade

carpets in Isfahan.

Carpet industry is the one which has resisted thousands of years in this territory and

millions of Iranians are contributed to its internal production and its exporting affaires

and after oil industry, and it is among the resources supplying the foreign exchange for

the country and all of its production devices and raw materials are provided and

supplied from the inside resources of the country, and it is also an industry which is an

interesting occupation for millions of villagers and gifted Iranian nomadic tribes in their

localities and is one of the attractions for tourists and it is woven with the history, art,

Knowledge and taste of Iranian tribes and is somehow indicator of them, therefore no

industry can compete with it. As a result, it is reasonable to do the best in order to

develop this industry and to recognize its issues and problems scientifically and

practically and to make it grow healthy and naturally among the similar sectors and

16

even among its competitors, while the problems and aspects of this industry are not

obvious and recognized, it won’t be possible to solve them. Considering the willingness

foreigners show towards this product, every activity to improve the carpet industry and

to develop its market will be welcomed and essential and useful from all aspects.

No study will be complete about the carpet, unless this subject is considered

geographically and then the coordinates of Iran are added to it.

Fewer branches of production sectors in the world have occupied such extended

geographical area either production or consumption aspects. From geographical

consumption aspect, it can be said that carpet is of old and new markets’ favorites.

It is to notice that the more the cultural interests increase and the more the people’s life

levels ascends, the more they pay attention to carpet. So it will be useful to accomplish

studies about the consumers’ attitudes towards this product.

Previous researches and studies about handicrafts are as Follows:

A- Conceptual and descriptive studies as thesis, journals and published books which

focus on the cultural, historical and artistic aspects of carpet.

B- Practical and conceptual studies which emphasize the fundamental methods and the

economic techniques of the carpet industry and it can be said that the number of such

studies and books are low and regarding to the importance and capabilities of the carpet

industry more studies are needed in terms of offer and demand.

The most important aspect of carpet is its self-sufficiency. Carpet is a timeless art and

perhaps it is impossible to consider carpet as an artistic pure quality, but undoubtedly

there are such traits in this product that distinguishe it from a mere commercial product.

Carpet affects upon the spirit, mind and taste of customer as artworks.

To be mono-production is one of the problems in economy of developing and third

world countries, especially dependence to raw materials resulting in unpleasant

consequences on political, social and even cultural structure of these countries and

because the major part of foreign incomes and revenues of these countries are based on

the export of one or some raw materials, these countries have a weak structure against

the foreign pressures in long-term and any unusual fluctuation in the price of these

products, which are their only resources for revenues, have a great influence upon their

economy. Getting rid of mono-production economy through developing non-oil exports

is among the strategies considered by politicians and when the price of oil descends in

17

world markets, the most important non-oil product of Iran ,that is carpet, will show its

value more and more and the relationship between this industry and tourism increases

the importance of researches. Therefore, the study of effective factors on the attitudes of

tourists shopping Iranian carpets is of special importance.

1.5. Research questions

1.5.1. Main question

What are main factors that influence attitudes of tourists shopping Iranian handmade

carpet in Isfahan?

1.5.2. Other questions

1. Do the advertisements by merchants of Iranian handmade carpets influence the

attitudes of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan?

2. Does the quality of Iranian handmade carpets affect the attitudes of tourists shopping

Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan?

3. Does the price of Iranian carpets affect the attitudes of tourists shopping Iranian

handmade carpets in Isfahan?

4. Does the beauty of Iranian carpet influence tourists shopping the attitudes of Iranian

handmade carpets in Isfahan?

1.6. Hypotheses

1. Dose Advertisements by merchants of Iranian handmade carpets influence the

attitudes of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

2. Dose Quality of Iranian handmade carpets affects the attitudes of tourists shopping

Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

3. Dose Price of Iranian handmade carpets is significant on the attitudes of tourists

shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

4. Dose Beauty of Iranian handmade carpets influence the attitudes of tourists shopping

Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

18

1.7. Methodology

1.7.1. Research purpose (descriptive, experimental, content analysis, historical,

etc.)

The objective of descriptive study is to indentify and characterize market

characteristics or functions (Malhotra, 1996). If the research is concerned with finding

out who, what, where, or how much, then the study is descriptive (Cooper and

schindler, 2003).

In order to gather information of literature review part of this thesis we use the

secondary data such as articles, books, reports govt. publication.

Quantitative research approach transform the information to numbers and amounts that

later gets analyzed statistically .Quantitative studies tend to be more structured and

formalized (Holme ans Solvange, 1997).

In this thesis, different factors which have been emerged from literature review are

tested in an empirical way in order to see that how much they have been effective in the

adoption process. Since all the results are presented in numbers and statistical analyses

have been done, quantitative approach is seen as being appropriate for this study.

Quantitative research tends to be associated with the numbers as the unite of analysis

(Denscombe, 2005).

This research is a kind of analytical research because all the results are presented in

numbers and statistical analyses have been done in this research in order to answer

research questions.

Analysis means the separation of something into its component parts. To do this, of

course, the researcher first needs to identify what those parts might be, and links with a

further meaning of analysis, which is to trace things back to their underlying sources.

Analysis , then, involves probing beneath the surface appearance of something to

discover the component elements which have come together to produce it. By tracing

things back in this fashion, the researcher aims to expose some general principals that

can be used to explain the nature of the thing being studied and can be applied

elsewhere to other situation (Denscombe, 2005).

Because this thesis aims to find out the factors that influence on tourists shopping

attitude of Iranian handmade carpet in Isfahan the strategy, the strategy, which suits for

study, is a survey, survey is a technique in which information is collected form a sample

19

of people through a questionnaire (Zikmund, 2000). Besides the research question of

this study is in form of what and according to Yin 1994, the relevant research study is a

survey.

Regarding the objective of this study, that is, investigation the factors influencing the

attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpet in Isfahan, this research is

applied.

Since this study uses secondary data such as books and articles for my literature review,

as well as field methods such as questionnaire and its goal is to recognize the properties,

references, and behaviors of different individuals of the society by referring to them. It

can be said that the present study is descriptive-survey in terms of essence and the

method.

1.7.2. Statistical universe

Statistical universe consist of tourists referring to the certified carpet shops in Isfahan.

1.7.3. Method of sampling

There are two major types of sampling design: probability and non-probability

sampling. In probability sampling, the elements in the population have some known

chance or probability of being selected as sample subjects. In non-probability sampling,

the elements do not have a known or predetermined chance of being selected as subject.

Simple random sampling is a sampling design which all elements in the population are

considered and each element has an equal chance of being chosen as the subject. The

advantage of this sampling design is high generalizability of findings. The disadvantage

of this method is that not as efficient as stratified sampling.

The method of sampling in this study is simple random sampling, that is, the tourists

who referred to the carpet shops.

1.7.4. Volume of sample and calculation method

To determine the volume of sample, we use the following formula:

2

2

22

d

sZn

α

=

20

Where n=sample volume, z=the value of statistic of the test at assurence level 95%, d=

allowed error per percent, s= sample variance.

1.7.5. Data collection method: (questionnaire, interview, etc.).

According to (Wiedersheim-Paul & Eriksson, 1998) and (Yin, 1994) there are two ways

of collecting data: Primary and secondary data. Primary data are collected for a specific

research in response to a specific problem, whereas secondary data has already been

collected for another purpose. The secondary data was collected from the academic

articles, books, reports govt. publication for my literature review. The needed primary

data for this research was obtained through questionnaires which are used after

determining the validity and the reliability in order to answer research questions. For

this study both primary and secondary data have been used.

1.7.6. The analysis tool

To examine the factors in this research, we use single sample T- student tests and

Freedman tests. Also, we will use Excel and SPSS software.

1.8. Outline of the thesis As shown in figure 1.1, this thesis consists of five chapters:

Chapter one contains already an insight into what this thesis is about and also what the

thesis questions are. Moreover, it presents the purposes of this study and the summery

of methodology. Chapter two consists of previous histories and researches relevant to

the purpose of this study. Chapter three will provide the methodology that has been used

in the thesis. In chapter four, the data analyzed for this thesis is presented.

In chapter five where the findings and conclusions are derived from the research, also

the implications of management, theories and suggestions for further research are

presented.

21

1-Introduction

2-Literature Review

3-Methodology

4-Data Analysis

5-Findings and conclusions

Figure 1.1: Outline of the thesis Source: Authors own construction

22

Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.1. Introduction

Tourism, one of the greatest industries in the world, is considered to include all

activities related to the temporary short-term movement of people to certain destinations

outside the places where they live and work normally, and all the activities they do

during their stay at these destinations, for leisure, business, or other purposes. One of

these activities is shopping. Shopping as a travel activity has turn to an increasing

important aspect of tourism industry, because of its fundamental economic contribution

to the retail trade in various tourism markets throughout the world. Shopping

opportunities are considered as the major attraction causing tourists to travel to many

less developed countries where goods with low price are abundant. They often are ready

to pay more money on shopping than on food, lodging, or other entertainments. It is an

usual activity for tourists, especially Asian shoppers, to purchase some crafts and/or

souvenirs regarding to the cultural norms of gift-giving, or in other parts of the world, to

collect unique memorials and mementos. Shopping for good values can lead consumers

fell like smart shoppers and is an important part of entertainment-based shopping. The

feelings are heightened when people discover participating in a good bargain or in

major sales event. Three major factors are found to be the most clearly driving forces

behind shopping as a primary reason for travel: the merchandise to be sought, the

selected destination, and price advantage. Souvenirs are not the only things tourists

want to buy, but also tourist shopping activity includes purchases of clothes, Jewelry,

books, arts and crafts. One of the most common types of souvenirs is handicrafts and

arts. Handicrafts are goods produced by hand with special attention to design, quality,

and material used. Iranian people are very famous because of their highly developed

artistic craftsmanship that can be seen in their carpets. In the past, there where three

different places for knotting rugs, there were, home, the city shop, and the nomadic tent.

Designs and patterns of these carpets were different and show the area in which they

were knotted, and after a period of time, ideas, design and patterns were exchanged. This research pays significant attention to some virtual facts regarding tourists’ attitude

while shopping those carpets and the effective factors influencing them to have the best

23

choice such as price, beauty advertisements by merchants and quality. In this chapter we

will describe history of Iranian handmade carpet, attitude toward shopping experiences,

tourist shopping and its details, Characteristic of Iranian handmade carpet, traditional art

in Iran, advertisement and tourist advertisements, textile souvenir, types and

characteristics of textile souvenir consumer tourists, tourists’ souvenir behavior

researches.

2.2. History of handmade carpet in Iran

Carpets and rugs are considered as symbols of new civilization in western countries.

Regardless rare cases in which these goods were imported to France, Netherlands, and

Eastern countries, even the splendid Halls and Chambers of England palaces in 18th

century were deprived of such carpets. In early 19th century when workshops of

weaving carpets were equipped with machineries, carpet turned to focus of attention for

rich and poor peoples in other countries, while people in Iran used carpets for many

centuries (Ibid). Sir George Birdwood stated that indefinite oldness of carpet in Iran is

accepted without any needs to be proved. He tries to attribute carpet appearance to Iran.

Other authors declared that the origin of carpet was not in Babylon, Nineveh, or Iran,

but Turkish and Mongolian invaders from Central Asia have brought this art to these

regions. The first group of Mongolian invaders attacked Khorasan in the 5th century A.D.,

and the second group was Seljukians who dominated Iran in 15th century A.D. But the

author of “Hudud-al Alam” in 9th century indicates that carpet has been weaving in Fars,

Iran

Iranian people are very famous because of their highly developed artistic craftsmanship

that can be seen in their carpets. In the past, there where three different places for

knotting rugs, there were, home, the city shop, and the nomadic tent. Designs and

patterns of these carpets were different and show the area in which they were knotted,

and after a period of time, ideas, design and patterns were exchanged. (Gholipoor

Solaymani 1994).

24

2.2.1. Carpet in pre-Islamic Iran

There is little exact information about carpet in Iran before 650 A.D. and it didn’t

remain any proofs for this industry from Achaemenians (553-330 B.D), Solukians (312-

129 B.D.), and Parthians (170 B.D.-226 A.D.). Some evidences are seen for existence of

carpet during 3 centuries of Sasanian reign (224- 641 A.D.). These evidences testified

that carpets of Sasanian reign had motifs and were decorated with gold, silver and

precious jewels (Ibid).

2.2.2. Carpet in post-Islamic Iran

After Arab conquering Iran in 7th century which caused in downfall of Sasanian

dynasty, Islamic historians and geographers came to Iran and in their works, we can

find irrefutable proofs for carpet usage. In “Hodud-e Alam” written in 892 A.D., the

author argued that in Iran, carpet has been woven in Fars. Yaghut (1179 A.D.) assured

that carpet weaving has been practiced in Azerbaijan provinc in 13th century (Ibid).

2.2.3. Carpet industry drop-off in Seljukian and Mongolian epoch

Seljukian monarchs, who ruled Iran in 11th and 12th, didn’t understand the importance of

carpet weaving. It is no doubt that by expansion of open-minded thoughts among the

people, this art began to develop as a job between the rural residents. In early 13th

century, King of Ilkhani (Ghazan Khan) covered the great halls of his palace with

carpets woven in Fars. Teymoor Lang was busy with his battles so that he had no time

to pay attention to develop the art carpet weaving. But during the reign of his son

‘Shahrokh’, this industry gained its importance, but carpet designs of this era were of

broken types. One of Ozon princes called Ozon Hassan used precious and valuable

carpets in his palaces. Che barbaro, ambassador of Venice, has written about the carpets

in Ozon Hassan’s Palaces (Ibid).

2.2.4. Prosperity of handmade carpets

The late 15th century witnessed the emergence of great skilled masters in carpet weaving

and designing. All of them used designs which included curved lines. This method

compared to old one which included broken and straight lines necessitates great skills

and mastery, and the sketch of carpet must be prepared as the first knots are made

25

(Ibid). By Mongolian domination (13th and 14th centuries), carpet weaving reached the

highest level of its beauty and techniques. Flourishing this art coincided with the reign

of Ghazan Khan (1295-1307 A.D.). But the peak of Iranian classic carpet weaving art,

which is called Renaissance of Iranian Carpet, was at the epoch of Safavid dynasty

(1499-1722 A.D.), particularly in the epoch of Shah Tahmaseb the first and Shah Abas

the great. From this epoch, 300 carpets have been survived and are preserved in great

museums of the world and private collections. In this era, carpet workshops were built

along the great palaces, and workshops already built in Isfahan, Kashan, and other cities

were developed greatly (Amiry, Eskandary, & Pirooz, 2004).

Occupying Iran by Afghans (1721-1722 A.D.) caused the art of carpet weaving to be

destroyed. From 19th century, Iranian carpet, especially priceless Tabriz carpets, made

their way to Europe. From the other hand, the European countries sent their

representatives to all Eastern countries and during a complete rivalry; they gathered all

the antique and ancient carpets and sent them to Constantinople where was an important

center of carpet market. By gathering old carpets completely, the English, American,

and German companies started to establish various workshops in Tabriz, Arak, and

Kerman. This trend continued till the First World War when the carpet production had

reached its highest level. The epoch Qajar was a restoration period for the carpet

industry. At the beginning of the current century, the ruling government engaged in

establishing Carpet Corporation in 1925 to preserve carpet authenticity and to stabilize

unsteady market. Looking back to near past time, Iranian carpet consisted 70% of

exports in 1986 (Ibid).

2.3. Attitude toward shopping experiences

The definition of the term “Attitude” has been proposed in various ways during the

previous decades (Mowen, 1995). Fishbein & Ajzen (1975) defines the attitude as a

learned predisposition to a respond in a favorable or unfavorable manner with a given

object. Attitude, positive or negative feeling regarding a particular behavior, is

associated with some intentions because peoples will perform their behaviors

intentionally. Hence, tourists’ shopping experiences involve selecting products, which is

very closely related to their attitude toward possessions and acquiring possessions. It is

the major contributor to tourists’ identity (Belk, 1988; csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-

26

Halton, 1981). It may also serve as a means of preserving memories and feelings from

travels (Belk, 1988). Although, vast researches have done on theoretical issues about

attitude, little is known about tourists’ attitudes towards shopping craft souvenir.

Littrell’s conceptual model (1996) identified souvenir and shopping variables which

added to initial tourists’ shopping behavior model as independent variables in order to

explain tourists’ attitudes towards shopping souvenir and crafts during the travel. These

variables were beliefs about authenticity of crafts, beliefs about crafts features, and

shopping value. Behavioral patterns of tourists vary with their travel activities and

levels of interactions with host communities. Tourists’ attitude toward shopping

experiences for crafts may be affected by past travel experiences. Tourists can buy

souvenirs and crafts directly from artisans or indirectly from crafts or gift shops

(Gahring, Niemeyer, Reilly, Scout, Baizerman, Kean, & Littrell, 1992).

It is obvious that shopping in another country is totally different from daily shopping

experiences, because tourists usually act and behave in a different context from the

environment of their normal everyday life (Oh et al., 2004). Unlike many of the service

encounters that are described in the retail services literature, the holiday leisure

experience of a tourist has these features (Ryan, 1999):

1. The tourist has a strong emotional involvement in the tourism experience and

shopping.

2. The tourist has a strong motivation to have a successful and satisfactory outcome

from the tourism experience.

3. There is a long period of interaction between the tourist, the place and the people at

the holiday destination. During this period tourists can usually manipulate their

environment to earn the satisfactory outcome.

4. Tourism products and services make the tourism experience.

5. The tourist has many different key roles during a tourism experience, that each one

has separate determinants of satisfaction.

In a tourism destination, tourists can have a new situation in which they can experience

new things and environment that are different from their ordinary daily lives at home.

Because of this, it is clear that shopping and purchasing experiences of tourists often

differ from their regular purchasing and shopping experiences at home.

27

Shopping outcomes, which include the choice of shopping location, choice of shopping

products and services, and the importance of product and service attributes, are mainly

related to two different types of tourist shopping motives: expressive motives and

instrumental motives. Expressive motives are held by tourists who see shopping as an

activity that provides them with an opportunity for relaxation, escape, social

networking, and status attainment. Instrumental motives for shopping are related to

those who shop because they need to shop for necessities, meet social or cultural

obligations, and experience the local culture (Timothy, 2005).

During shopping, tourists may or may not have a shopping list of something specific for

purchase, but they just simply look for excitement and pleasure and they want to find

some funny and attractive souvenirs to experience local culture of that place and interact

with local people (Timothy, 2005).

Yu and Littrell (2003) proposed two dimensions of tourism shopping experiences:

product-oriented shopping experiences and process-oriented shopping experiences. In

product-oriented shopping experiences, tourists concentrate on the workmanship and

aesthetic quality of the crafts, while the emphasis in process-oriented shopping

experiences is more on cultural and artistic linkage through interactions with craftsmen

and sellers. Studies confirmed that tourist attitudes toward product-oriented shopping

experiences positively affect their intention to purchase at product-oriented crafts outlet,

and that tourists’ attitudes toward process-oriented shopping experience positively

affect their intention to purchase at process-oriented retail venues. The following figure

presents a model of tourists’ shopping behavior.

28

Fig 2.1: Tourists’ shopping behavior

Source: Yu &Littrell, 2003.

2.4. Tourist shopping

Tourism, one of the greatest industries in the world, is considered to include all

activities related to the temporary short-term movement of people to certain destinations

outside the places where they live and work normally, and all the activities they do

during their stay at these destinations (The Tourism Society, 1979), for leisure,

business, or other purposes (Paci, 1992). One of these activities is shopping. Shopping

as a travel activity has turn to an increasing important aspect of tourism industry,

because of its fundamental economic contribution to the retail trade in various tourism

markets throughout the world (Jansen-Verbeke, 1991; Kent, Shock, & Snow, 1983).

Here is a diagram that shows several intrinsic and extrinsic variables for tourist

shopping.

Beliefs about Authenticity of Crafts

Product & Quality Personal Aesthetics

Cultural & Historical Context

Artisan & Material

Beliefs about Crafts Product Features

Craftsmanship Sensuous Appreciation

Cultural Linkage Artisan Linkage

Shopping Value

Utilitarian Hedonic

Past Travel Experiences

Product Orientation Process Orientation

Attitude toward Shopping Experience

Product-Oriented Process-Oriented

Intention to Shop/Purchase at Venues

Product-Oriented Process-Oriented

29

Figure 2.2.The elements of leisure and tourist shopping

Source: Timothy, 2005

The most important intrinsic variables include shoppers’ demographic and

psychographic features (e.g. age, gender, behavior, level of affluence), cultural

background (e.g. nationality, race, traditions), and expected outcomes (e.g. acquiring

authentic products, finding new experiences and merchandises, buying some gifts for

their family members). The extrinsic influences are comprised of retail place

characteristics (e.g. store environment, size, type), the setting and its features (e.g. old

cities, communities beside beach and rural areas), customer service and retail

management (e.g. providing services to needs of foreign visitors, providing customer

Consumption

Shopping as Consumption

Shopping as Leisure And Tourist Activity

Personal Needs

Cultural Background

Perceived or Expected Outcomes

Destination and its Characteristics

Demographics& Psychographics

Product-related Attributes

Price Differentials

Customer Service& Retail Management

30

comforts), price (e.g. relative prices, special prices, cost differentials in different

countries), and people related qualities (e.g. quality, authenticity, variety). These items

are the most important and influential factors that cause leisure and tourist shopping to

vary from other forms of consumption and profitable purchasing. Some of these issues

are most important and they get more attention but we note that every one has its own

place in our list (Timothy, 2005).

2.4. 1.Tourists and needs to shop

Shopping is a significant element in tourism (Timothy & Butler, 1995). Also, shopping

is considered one of the most extensive leisure activities in which the tourists engage,

and the experts considerer it as important economic, psychological, and social activities

performed by visitors (Gunn, 1988; MacCannell, 2002; McIntosh and Goeldner, 1990).

It is a usual activity for tourists, especially Asian shoppers, to purchase some crafts

and/or souvenirs regarding to the cultural norms of gift-giving, or in other parts of the

world, to collect unique memorials and mementos (Littrell, Anderson, & Brown, 1993;

Wang & Ryan, 1998). In many destinations, the most popular activities of tourists are

shopping (Kent, Shock, & Snow, 1983). Big retail shops and shopping centers or

complexes have prepared essential facilities in many modern destinations (Turner &

Reisinger, 2001). Keown (1989) and Heung & Qu (1998) indicated that the unique thing

that completes the trip is spending time shopping. Some tourists give shopping a higher

priority than sightseeing, recreation, or any other activities (Reisinger & Waryzack,

1996). Because of its social, economical, and psychological advantages, it is reasonable

for authorities at tourist destinations to create comfortable and exciting shopping centers

and districts to encourage the tourists and visitors to stay longer and purchase further

(Jones, 1999; Lin, 2004; yuksel, 2004). By reviewing the literatures, it is clear that

customers are attracted to the shopping districts where there are favorable climate, high

potential interaction, large selection of activities and merchandise (Bloch, Ridgway, &

Dawson, 1994). Overall store environment or center is regarded as a significant

parameter forming visitors’ thinking, feeling, and acting (Turley & Milliman, 2000;

Wakefield & Baker, 1998). It is because the first impression is likely generated in

visitors and customers by macroenvironment (Wakefield & Baker, 1998; Wirtz &

Bateson, 1999). There is no doubt that there are endless reasons why tourists shop.

31

Butler (1991) noticed that self-esteem, prestige, nostalgia, vanity, and economic savings

are the motivations driving tourists to shop, and can determine their choice of

destinations and merchandises (Table 2.1).

A research about tourist consumers by Travel Industry Association of America (2001)

indicates that there are ten reasons for tourists to shop during trips and holidays (Table

2.2).

Table 2.1: Possible motivations for tourist shopping

MotivationMerchandise

attributes

TypeLocationExample

PrestigeUniqueCrafts

Local materials

Local designs

Arctic

Oceania

Soapstone

Shells

PrestigeExclusiveClothesParisFashion

EconomicCost-savingBargains

Outlets

Pirated goods

Replicas

Asia

USA

Asia

Asia

Electronics

All

Tapes/Videos

Watches

Self-esteemTrophiesBig game heads

Named items

Africa

Olympicspins

Nostalgia/

Vanity

Souvenir/mementos

Gifts

Anywhere

Anywhere

Source: After Butler (1991)

32

Table 2.2: Reasons for shopping on most recent trip (in percentages)

Something to do22

Wanted to buy some thing for other peoples21

Had an event or holiday for which needed to buy something15

Wanted a souvenir of the trip13

Like to shop/always shop on trips12

Friends/relatives took me shopping6

Lower price/save money6

Wanted to buy something unique to the destination/authentic goods4

Different selection of stores than those at home3

Source: Travel Industry Association of America (2001)

According to the various studies, the travelers spend nearly one-third of their travel

expenditure on retail shopping (Gratton & Taylor, 1987; Littrell et al., 1994), and textile

crafts and wearing and clothing items are assumed to be a significant part of consumer

products purchased by tourists (Littrell, 1996; Traveler’s Notes, 1995). Only they are

spending more on their accommodations (Turner and Reisinger, 2001). For tourists,

shopping is not only a must-do activity (Cohen, 1995), but also a destination attraction

(Ryan, 1991; Timothy & Butler, 1995). It is an attraction which complements other

activities in a tour. Jansen-Verbeke (1988) defines shopping as a purchase behavior of

tourists in the destination. Besides the food and drink items, the other items purchased

by tourists include clothing, shoes, jewellery, leather, perfumes, watches, as well as

crafts and arts. Kent et al. (1983) found out that the expenditures on shopping are

usually more than on accommodations and food. Shopping contributes with the

destination economic advantages and job opportunities for local merchandise and those

that make the products by themselves.

2.4.2. The desire for keepsakes and memories

Souvenirs shopping behaviors of tourists involve product choice. This behavior is much

related to the visitors’ attitudes toward possession. Possessing material goods enhance

the sense of self (Belk, 1988; Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, 1981). The

souvenir may also serve as an instrument for storing the memories and feeling from

33

one’s past experiences (Belk, 1988). While purchasing souvenirs, the form and meaning

of traveler’s behavior may vary considerably from their usual pattern at home (Brown,

1992; Littrell, Anderson, &Brown, 1993; Stanfield, 1971). The reason is that they may

feel the need to bring home something palpable and real to preserve their memories

about a trip (Gordon, 1986). Hence, exploring the rational behind travelers’ souvenir

shopping behaviors more deeply may be meaningful (Brown, 1992). A number of

studies have been done by tourism researchers regarding the relation between beliefs of

crafts souvenir purchases, shopping orientation, and intentions to purchase particular

products (Kim & Littrell, 1999; Yu& Littrell, 2003). Yet, no systematic investigation

has been carried out to determine how to connect beliefs about craft souvenir shopping

with various shopping activities during the trip, including types of products purchased,

shopping outlets, information sources, and expenditure rate. These various shopping

activities supported with beliefs about shopping can be a powerful tool to segment the

market, examining travelers interested in craft souvenir.

Throughout history, the souvenirs and keepsakes are purchased by people to remind

them of their marvelous journeys (Gordon, 1986; Levell, 2000; Mars & Mars, 2000;

Scarce, 2000). Many travelers believe that an extremely important action during the trip

is purchasing the mementos and a trip without purchasing souvenirs to take home would

hardly be considered as a complete one. Moreover, the mementos help people returning

home to remember the special time they had or the local culture or heritage they

enjoyed (Littrell, 1990; Onderwater et al., 2000).In research by Littrell (1990; Littrell et

al., 1994), international tourists were asked international tourists to describe the

meaning related to the places, cultures, and memories of their travels. It became obvious

that souvenirs purchased would provide the tourists with a reminder of travel (Hitchock,

2000; Littrell, 1990; Littrell et al., 1994). Swanson notes: “when someone sees or

touches their souvenirs following a trip, they are not only remembering that they were

there but proving they were there”. Some tourist indicated that the primary reason to

buy souvenirs is to appreciate the workmanship of them. Some tourists find great

pleasure in watching the artisans demonstrating their skills. By watching artisans

painting works, weaving baskets, carving woods, tourists are more inclined to buy craft

items (Anderson & Littrell, 1995: 340). The attempt to connect with local craftspeople

is an intimate human interchange which is superior to cultural differences between

34

buyer and seller (Littrell, 1996). These exchanges and linkages serve as a significant

part of a trip. Possessing an item from surpassing artisans allows tourist to think and

search for the skillful techniques, as the description of a tourist for an Indonesian textile

hanging in her room, “the more I look at it the more details I appreciate in it” (Littrell,

1996).

2.4. 3.Cultural linkage

Graburn (1989) claimed that tourism is like a “sacred journey”, “… where one changes

from the home mode to the tourist mode and moves from the ordinary or mundane state

to the extraordinary or sacred state'' (Gordon, 1986, p. 136).

Because tourism is naturally a temporary non-ordinary experience, travelers feel the

need to concretize the extraordinary events by holding on to a tangible piece such as a

souvenir from the trip (Gordon, 1986). Hence, craft souvenirs and the associated

memories helped consumers to recognize sample indigenous lifestyles, to expand their

worldviews, and to experience aesthetic satisfaction (Littrell, 1990). Souvenirs are more

often made of natural objects, thus they elicit an encrypted message about the place or

time they come from (Gordon, 1986). The cultural context in which the crafts are

produced and acquired is of particular significance for visitors who care cultural

linkages.

2.4. 4.Shopping and buying

The necessary point here is to reiterate the difference between buying and shopping.

Exactly indicating, buying means to obtain a specific article from a seller, while

shopping includes sorting, comparing, checking prices, selecting items, walking to

browse, and meeting with other people (Angle, 1974; Bloch et al.1989; Bromley &

Thomas 1993; Bussey 1987; Roberts, 1987). Therefore, shopping does not always cause

in acquiring new merchandise. Instead, it includes needs that are unrelated to product

acquisition, such as desire to meet people, exercise or spend leisure time with friends

and relatives (Tauber, 1972). According to Hirschman (1984), seeking novelty and

innovativeness is a significant part of the shopping experience. Novel stimuli are sought

out by individuals through the total shopping experience which can be specially

enhanced by visiting new venues, being introduced to new environments, making new

35

friends and examining new merchandise. Thus, shopping is a multidimensional activity

that includes social interaction, economic exchange and very often the participation in

non-purchasing activities. Also, it is argued that shoppers’ desire for a leisure

experience is more fundumental than the acquisition objects (Babin et al. 1994;

Christiansen & Snepenger, 2002; Jones, 1999; Kamphorst, 1991; Sherry, 1990;

Westbrook & Black, 1985).

Carr (1990) designed graph which shows a functional-leisure shopping (figure 2.3) and

suggested that there may be different levels of functionality and leisure shopping

activities. At functional end, there is quartermastering as usual purchases of essential

items and it is often boring. The next is technical shopping, that is, to buy mechanical

item to do some jobs with (e.g. Refrigerators, computers, cars and so on). It is fairly

functional, because it usually needs some considerable planning, decision-making, and

seeking information. The more leisured shopping than two previous kinds is expressive

shopping, and includes people who buy items to allow them to draw pictures of

themselves that they wish to portray. Shopping clothing, jewellery, make-up falls in this

kind of category, because these items allowed the shoppers to create an identity by

which they can be recognized or presented. The final is recreation shopping which

indicate shopping as a pure leisure activity. As this relation exists, it is necessary to

recognize and understand shopping as a leisure activity and how it is different from

shopping as laborious activity.

Shopping as functional activity shopping as leisure

activity

Quartermastering Technical Expressive

Recreational

Figure 2.3: Functional –leisure shopping continuum

Source: after Carr, 1990

36

2.4.5. Factors influencing shopping as a motivation for travel

Three major factors are found to be the most clearly driving forces behind shopping as a

primary reason for travel: the merchandise to be sought, the selected destination, and

price advantage (Figure 2.4).

Figure 2.4: Factors influencing shopping as a motivation for travel

Source :( Timothy, 2005)

As the diagram shows, these factors may overlap and work together as motivations for

travel. These factors are not exclusive. In fact, they enhance each other quite obviously.

Variety of Price and merchandise as well as the quality, for instance, can change a place

into a world-famous shopping center.

Also, collectors often travel extensively to find antiques to complete their collections at

home (Michael, 2002). Some place, such as Glendale, Arizona, depends heavily on this

kind of special shopping tourism (Bartlett, 2000). For example, Mexico has become a

well known shopping destination largely due to offerings to retail consumers. Also,

Oaxaca is a advanced city where some of the best handicraft shopping in all of Mexico

are found. Native and Mixed European styles are common there and the city is

considered as the source of a lot of the souvenirs and handicrafts sold throughout

Mexico (Knickerbocker, 1995). There are other popular items which have become

common commodities in Mexico, such as silver jewelry and clothing and, more

Merchandise • search for

specific items

• souvenirs handicrafts • duty – free

Destination • place popular for

specific products • place popular for

Famous shopping areas & zones

• themed shopping destinations

• festivals and events • famous individual

malls or centers

Prices • high prices at home low prices

in destination • bargain hunting • inexpensive

designations

37

recently, you can find the hottest products in Mexican border communities that is,

prescription pharmaceuticals.

2.4.6. Merchandise (Handicrafts)

Consumers enjoy shopping more when stores offer a wide selection of products and

distinctive merchandise not readily available in every shop. At the same time, they

enjoy shopping better in malls and shopping centers where there is a wide variety of

stores selling a broad range of items (Jones, 1999). Product quality is another aspect

contributing to people’s perceptions of leisure shopping. In research done by the Bureau

of Tourism Research (1990) of Australia, the consumers indicated that product

characteristics which helped to create a satisfying leisure shopping experience for them

included beauty, lack of availability at home, high quality workmanship, nice

design/style, and authenticity.

The selection of products to sell will depend on many factors, including store location,

market demand, profit goals, and merchandise planning. Specialty shops may focus on

fairly narrow range of products, while other leisure and tourism-oriented store probably

have a wider selection. Primary products , or major lines , are the items that best relate

directly to the nature of retail establishment where they are sold .Complementary goods

, or minor lines , are goods that naturally fit into the customer s purchasing

requirements when he [/ she] is seeking a major product (Bearchell , 1975:107) .

The width and depth of merchandise should be a response to consumer expectations of

variety and choice. In most cases, considerable product variety will be necessary to

establish a reputation among customers and credibility in the field. There are some risks

associated with merchandising decision-making (Timothy, 2005).

Crafts are items that are handmade, not made in a factory. They are items made with

attention to materials, design, and workmanship and could be useful or decorative

(Littrell, kean, Baizerman, Reilly, Stout, Niemeyer and Gahring, 1990). Examples of

craft items can include quilts, weavings, tole painting, cornhusk dolls, silk rugs, and

wood carvings.

One of the examples for handicrafts is ‘Zapotec textile’ like an oriental rug, which is an

object that is crafted by the other. Buyers of exotic products in postindustrial societies

38

invent and reinvent the authenticity of Zapotec textiles to serve their processors’

individualized needs for ‘self fashioning’ and social representation. Zapotec textiles

have rich histories of cultural uses (Tiffany, 2004).

Iranian handicrafts occupy the first and foremost level of comparison to those of the

other countries in the world from the viewpoint of diversity of production involving as

many as 150 branches. This diversity tells a lot about the history and the process of

development, methods of production, designs, motifs and coloring (Namju & Khansari,

2002).

Iranian traditional floor coverings such as mat, felt, kilim, Sumacs, zilu, gabbe and

carpet and also rug table have maintained a unique position in terms of their

economical, social and cultural characteristics compared to the other crafts.

Iranian people are very famous because of their highly developed artistic craftsmanship

that can be seen in their carpets. In the past, there where three different places for

knotting rugs, there were, home, the city shop, and the nomadic tent. Designs and

patterns of these carpets were different and show the area in which they were knotted,

and after a period of time, ideas, design and patterns were exchanged.

Iranian handicrafts are considered as one of the 3 superior handicrafts in the world

along with Chinese and Indian handicrafts. Iranian handicrafts can be divided in various

categories, but since one of the most important aspects of distinguishing this art is the

techniques of production, following categorizing becomes very important:

Hand-loom weaving: this kind of weaving uses of a horizontal or vertical looms

fastened to the ground. The most weaving produced by this apparatus include: simple

Kilim, Sumak (one face Kilim), Zilu (flat-stitch carpet), Palas (coarse woolen fabric),

Gabbe and Carpet. These are known as the most important traditional Iranian floor-

covering.

Hand-woven textiles (traditional textiles): textiles and articles produced by two-heddle,

four-heddle, six-heddle, and eight-heddle looms and Jacquard machine belong to this

category. The most important textiles woven hereby are brocade, velvet, and ikat. Jajim

(fine woolen carpet) and other products made of cotton, wool and silk, which are

produced in urban, rural, and tribal regions, are among the famous Iranian hand woven

textiles (Ibid).

39

2.4.7. Destination

There are dozens of places throughout the world that have developed into well-known

and famous tourist shopping destinations, they are either purposefully planned to be

such or are so by default, simply because they offered products that people found

desirable (Begley, 1999; Birnabaum, 1996; Kreiner, 1996; Riegler, 1999). The famous

shopping destinations are mostly associated with one or a few primary products.

For instances, Dubai is the most popular shopping destination in the Middle East and

one of the most well-known in the world. This is largely because of the city’s role as

major air transportation center for flights between Europe and Asia. Generally with

several airports in Europe and Asia, the Dubai airport itself has become somewhat of a

major shopping center offering luxury goods with low duty fees and no sales tax (Hunt,

2001).

2.4.8. Price advantages

Keown (1989) found out that the relative price is one of most important factor in

generating shopping tourism. He assumed that the cheaper the prices in the destination,

the more popular the destination would be for shopping. Although, there are more

variables playing role in shopping tourism, but price plays an important role in

developing shopping tourism. Generally, people travel a long distance from their home

areas in search of retail bargains. Lundberg (1990) says: “nearly everybody likes a

bargain; nearly everybody likes to but, nearly everybody likes to have a reason for

going some place different to do so”. For example, Thailand has turned to a shopping

destination, which has gained popularity in recent years partly because of its good value

and low costs. It also, has become popular for its upper class department stores and

cheap night bazaars, where tourist can purchase handicrafts, ceramics, clothing, and

cheap jewellery (Brown, 1995).

Shopping for good values can lead consumers fell like smart shoppers and is an

important part of entertainment-based shopping. The feelings are heightened when

people discover participating in a good bargain or in major sales event. Negotiating a

good price can also have a positive effect on consumers by obtaining price concessions

from merchants or gaining an economic advantage (Tauber, 1995; Westbrook & Black,

1985). Nearly 20% of Jones (1999) study participants recalled the importance of finding

40

bargains in generating feelings of excitement and pleasure. And 8% of respondents

noted that high prices caused in non-entertaining shopping experience. The latter

respondents seemed to be disappointed at high prices because the money they spent was

more than anticipated.

Prices that are stable and competitive are important in attracting and retaining a solid

clientele (McIntosh et al., 1995; Turner& Reisinger, 2001). This important is what

customers expected and it will most affect their store selection and purchasing activities.

Price is a key part of merchandise planning, because it can direct managers’

understanding of sales activity in relation to price points and sometimes exclusively,

that also need to be in the forefront as pricing decisions are made (Schroeder, 2002). In

some of the high-demand tourist destinations, however, shops have a dual pricing

system, and products are priced higher for tourists than for local residents.

2.4.9. Shopping motivation and satisfaction relationship

Jasoen-Verbeke (1994) stated that shopping motivation of tourism can be divided into

three categories: (1) economic factors such as cost-saving by taking advantages of

favorite exchange rate, (2) psychological effects related to identification of destination,

and (3) reinforcing the social ties. By nature, shopping motives for tourists are divided

into leisure and functional (Wang, 2004), and may extend to include symbolic motives

(Lehto et al., 2004). One of the most common tourists’ activities is leisure shopping

(Law & Au, 2000). Functional shopping includes rational shopping behavior, lower

price, more varieties, and better quality. For some tourists, souvenir shopping usually

has a psychological meaning that recalls happy time of trip to a specific destination.

Moscardo (2004) illustrated a number of various reasons for tourist shopping such as

instrumental and expressive motives. The former refers to the following: (1) shopping

as an activity meets social obligation, (2) shopping the necessary items for travel, (3)

shopping for experiencing local culture. The expressive motives reflect the need to

relax, to have a change of life style, etc.According to Wang and law (2003), satisfaction

of shopping is considered as a factor of people’s expectation and perception of the

activity and the next outcomes. Four primary elements determine shopper’s satisfaction:

product characteristics, services and performances, costumers’ characteristics and

41

behavior, and environmental influences (Wang & Law, 2003). There are considerable

differences between the Asian and Western travelers’ perception and expectations

toward the attributes of shopping which may result in different level of satisfaction.

Regarding the shopping motives, most of the studies in tourism shopping are related to

shopping motivation and the satisfaction. Buttle (1992) believes that shopping motives

are influence by various contexts for example, the motive leading to shopping grocery is

different from gift shopping. Therefore, the satisfaction from shopping tends to be

varied. Sheth (1983), and Eastlick and Feinberg (1999) suggested that motives of

shopping include functional and non-functional motives. The former refers to real

attributes such as varieties and qualities of merchandises, convenience, and physical

facility. The latter refers to social needs for interaction with others, company reputation,

and customers’ perceptions. The level of satisfaction is considered as a direct measure

for shopping motivation (Westbrook & Black, 1985). At the same time, shoppers’

satisfaction depends on shopping enjoyment customers experienced (Dholakia, 1999).

Satisfaction, itself, cause the positive attitudes towards a product reinforced. By

contract, dissatisfaction leads to negative attitudes and will lessen the possible repetition

of shopping (Williams, 2002). Since the selling environment has become very

competitive, shoppers’ satisfaction is very vital for retailers (Machleit & Mantel, 2001).

Hence, Keown (1989) dedicated a model that may explain tourists’ tendency to buy

(Figure 2.5). The shopping behavior of foreign tourists are influenced by types of

products available, the level of import duties on foreign products and tax levels on

domestic items, the price/value and quality of goods in the destination compared to

those at home, and retailers’ strategies.

42

Tourist’s products level of domestic relative value of retailer

tendency = available + tax and + specific products + strategies to buy goods import duties at home

Domestic Imported Souvenirs & Duty & Regular Higher, Higher, location promotion image Goods goods necessities tax free oulets same or same or outlets lower lower Prices quality

Figure 2.5: Model of Japanese tourists’ tendency to buy

Source: After Keowen, 1989

Other researchers have recognized that some other factors, such as demographic

attributes, attitude toward other cultures, the rate of currency exchange, lifestyles,

purpose of travel, transportation, a place to stay, and exposure to destination culture,

may affect shopping behavior and products purchases (Agarwal & Yochum, 2000;

Bureau of Tourism Research 1990; Hoston & Christensen, 2001).

Regarding the shopping satisfaction for tourists, Reisinger and Turner (2002) argue that

the importance of product purchased (e.g. alcohol, cosmetics, electrical appliances, etc.)

is determinant of the importance of its attributes such as value for money, good quality,

and availability. As a result, tourist satisfaction is determined by the importance of

product attributes. For instance, Japanese tourists often pay more attention to shop

presentation and also feel satisfaction with a product when they travel to both Hawaii

and the Gold Coast, Australia (Reisinger & Turner, 2002). In summary, shopping

motives for tourists are multifarious. Yet, it is impossible to include a wide range of

shopping motives in this study. Rather, seven shopping motives, which are derived from

the study conducted by Wong and Law (2003), are: lower prices, varieties of products,

quality, novelty of merchandises, shopping habits and unavailability at home. Machleit

and Mantel (2001) indicated in their study that the nature of the tourist’s satisfaction

have been resulted from the “expectancy-confirmation/disconfirmation” model. This

model suggests that satisfaction is a result of perceived product performance,

expectations of performance, and any confirmations from the comparison undertaken

between expectation and performance. Wong and Law based their study on this model,

43

and thus it is appropriate to use their survey instrument since consumer satisfaction is

likely to occur when performance meets or exceeds exception.

2.4.10. Craft selection criteria

Tourist consumer of craft souvenirs differ culturally from each others (Cohen, 1992).

As Cohen (1992) described, “They differ in their culturally determined tastes, not only

in what they consider extraordinary of strange, but also in what they consider

customary” (p.18). Littrell (1996) identified several themes by studying travelers’

desires for buying and using crafts.As argued so far, many variables (e.g. price,

selection, need for mementos, a search for authenticity, functional need, etc.) affect

tourists’ purchasing behavior and the types of goods they buy. Other research shows

that national and cultural background also have a considerable bearing on the shopping

experience and other forms of consumption (Keown , 1989 ; McCracken;1986;Mok &

Lam , 1997; Popelka & Littrell , 1991: Thompson & Cutler , !997; Wang & Ryan ,

1999;Wong &Law , 2003). The propensity of certain nationalities (e.g. Japanese,

Korean, Taiwanese) to shop with considerable devotion has earned them a reputation of

being avid and reliable tourist shopper (Boydell, 1987: Bureau of Tourism Research,

1990).

2.4.11. Aesthetic appreciation

Travelers always enjoy the aesthetic features the crafts bring to them. These travelers

recognize the value of the aesthetic satisfaction derived from the intrinsic beauty in

color and design, or workmanship in crafts, and they believed that no additional

symbolism is necessary to make an item meaningful (Littrell, 1990). The typical

comment on the items this group of travelers bought was “It’s the most beautiful thing

I’ve ever seen” (Littrell, 1990, p. 238). Regarding Littrell’s (1990) findings, Kim (1997)

reported that one of the travelers’ evaluative criteria of craft souvenirs was aesthetic

aspects such as design and color and the travelers’ attitude toward the aesthetic quality

of souvenirs was the best predictor of their purchase intentions. Likewise, Littrell et al.

(1992) indicated that sensuous Consumers in their study were attracted to “unique,

unusual, or original” items, and that they indicated a strong sensory involvement with

the crafts.

44

2.4.12. Quality of craftsmanship

A great deal of researches on characteristics of craft consumers indicates that

craftsmanship with high quality is what the travelers pursue in the crafts they purchase

(Anderson, 1993; Littrell, 1990; Slay baugh, Littrell, & Farrell-Back, 1990). Through

crafts, travelers attain the appreciation several aspects such as the valuable work of the

hand, techniques employed, time spent in the craft production process (Littrell, 1996).

Littrell, Reilly, and Stout (1992) conducted some studies on consumer profiles for fiber,

clay, and wood crafts and found that details of the skills of craftsmen in the production

as well as in the finishing of a craft were emphasized by workmanship Consumers.

They evaluated the quality of skills based on their own personal experiences and

knowledge about fiber craft techniques. The details which were involved in evaluating

the workmanship included appliqué, finishing of edges, thread choice, use of fringes,

nicely finished wrong sides, and neatness in machine stitching.

Price usually is an important characteristic for decisions on quality. Products with

higher quality are always costlier than items with lower quality, because of specialized

labor and material and because of vendor to store and expensive maintain of them.

Customers’ perception of quality and expectations are positively correlated (Kim &

Shin, 2001; Kinley et al., 2003; Swanson & Horridge, 2000).The quality of products is

very important in showing the quality of the shop. High quality souvenirs are generally

more acceptable among visitors than cheaper products to present the place being visited.

2.5. Characteristic of Iranian handmade carpet

2. 5.1. Study the situation of three major countries importing carpet

There are three major countries importing handmade carpets from all around the world,

they are Germany, America, and Swiss. (Amiry, Eskandary, & Pirooz, 2004). In brief,

situation of these countries are discussed here:

Germany: In recent three decades, Germany has become one of the greatest markets

for handmade carpet; this country has in hand more than half of international carpet

trade and this article is accounted for the most fundamental market in many exporting

countries (Gholipoor Solaymani, 1994).

America: this country is considered as second major importer in terms of number and

value of importing carpets. Because of its great territory, very large population and

45

fairly low consumption and import of handmade carpets, this country is yet a small and

inactive market. Some of major importers of handmade carpet try to make known and

introduce this article to all people by vast advertising activities, considering the

potential capacity existing in this country (Ibid).

Swiss: although this small country has relatively low population, but in terms of value

of importing handmade carpets, is considered as third major importer country in the

world. This country comes after France and Italy in terms of amount of imports. Also,

among the importing countries, Swiss has the highest level of handmade carpet

consumption, and nearly all of its people are among the shoppers or owners of

handmade carpets (Ibid).

46

Figure 2.6: The map of handmade Persian carpet

Source: Iran handicraft organization, 1978.

2.5.2. Review of Iranian carpet market and customers’ taste

It is obvious that customers’ taste affects on carpets market from the beginning. The

countries placing orders for carpets are as follows:

47

Asian countries such as Japan, Eastern countries, European countries such as

England, Belgium, Netherlands, Swiss, France, and Germany and American countries.

Asian countries are among the major countries placing orders for Iranian carpets, and

the most orders are from Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Saudi Arabians prefer the color olive green with traditional Iranian motifs in dimensions

1.83 x 2.74, 1.83 x 2.44, 3.55 x 4.57, 2.3 x 3.35 m.

Japanese prefer the colors sea blue, brown, and blue with Iranian geometrical motifs in

dimensions 0.6 x 0.9, 0.6 x 1.2, 2.6 x 2.6, 3.5 x 2.6 m.

European countries among which Germany is the most important prefers the colors red,

cream with Kashan motifs in dimensions 2 x 3 , 3 x 4 m..

The second point which is effective in European tastes includes internal structures and

architecture of these countries, according which the decoration of houses is defined and

this causes some limitations for decision making process and affects on the size, then on

the design and color.

The markets of American countries are small and inactive; this is because of obscurity

between Iran and America relations. But South America countries have their own

markets.

Americans prefer the colors cream, blue, red, brown, and yellow with Tabriz, Isfahan,

Ghom, Saroogh, Naeen, and Kerman motifs and designs in dimensions 1.8 x 2.7 , 2.3 x

3.6 , 2.7 x 3.6 , 2.1 x 3 , 3 x 4.2 m. (Sajadi, 2004).

In this research, generally, carpet means what is made up of wooly wrap and weft

woven together by hand. Each warp is tied or twisted to the weft so that the free end of

wraps constitutes the colorful motif and design of the carpet. By carpet comb, the

resulted knots are pound together (Gholipoor Solaymani 1994).

2.5.3. Quality of handmade carpet

There are five basic factors for characteristics of an oriental carpet: pile material

construction, design and color composition, border design, foundation threads and

backing. And also carpet size and density determine the price of a modern oriental

carpet (Schlick, 1968).For a thick mass of woolen threads is still hanging on the front.

By this means, the thick firm pile of a carpet is achieved. Now the tighter and closer a

pile is knotted, the shorter it can be cut. A proverb says: “The thinner the carpet the

48

richer the Persian. But this dose not mean that good carpets must invariably be thin.

There are excellent carpets which are knotted so tightly and woven with such a firm

weft that they are almost as hard as boards and can scarcely be folded. Tight and close

knotting has the advantage that the outline of the design shows clearly and is not hazy;

it has the precision of a painting, but loose and coarse knotting gives very indistinct and

vague contours. The fineness of the thread used for the knotting is also important, for

the thinner the thread, the finer the knotting which is possible. Further more, the

knotting must be even and regular for the design to show sharply and clearly. Careful

and even knotting is therefore a main condition for a good carpet. If one looks at the

reverse of a well-knotted carpet the designs and colors stand out clearly. The more exact

and sharply defined this pattern appears the better (generally speaking) the carpet has

been worked (Haack, 1972).

The following table explains the number of the knots in different system and its

conversion:

Knots of Rugs & Quality

Knots/1 cmKnots/1 inchRAJKPSIQuality

3.57 or less9.07 or less25 or less82 or lessVery poor

3.859.72782Poor

4.2810.8830118Acceptable

512.735161Medium

7.1418.1450329Good

8.5721.7760474Great

1025.4070654Excellent

11.4229.0280843Superb

12.8532.65901066Masterpiece

13.14 or more33.38 or more92 or more1144 or moreMuseum types

All the knots numbers are approximate.

Table2.3: Knots of Rugs &quality

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

2.5.4. Material of carpet

Wool is the chief material used in carpets, besides cotton and silk. The wool is mainly sheep’s wool, but camel wool is also used and occasionally, for very fine carpets, goat’s

hair. With regard to sheep’s wool, the most important material for carpets, it is the

quality of the wool which is one of the most important considerations in a carpet; this

49

quality depends on several conditions. An important part is played by the climate in

which the sheep have been raised. The finest wool comes from the flocks reared at high

altitudes in the Gaucasian mountains and in mountainous parts of Persia and Turkestan.

Sheep form low-lying lands yield a coarser and less good quality of wool. Grazing is

also important and, it is believed, the chemical composition of the water. Equally

important is the part of the sheep from which the wool is taken.

The finest quality of wool comes from the animal’s shoulder, that from the legs and

belly being somewhat inferior. Sheep’s wool of the finest quality can appear as glossy

as silk, and even be mistaken for it. Angora goat’s wool excels in its fineness and is

wonderfully glossy, but it breaks easily. Where wool is of poorer quality it tends to look

dry and lusterless in a definitely inferior and its durability is greatly impaired.

Cotton is much used for the warp and weft of carpets made in certain areas.

Silk, being an expensive fiber, is much less frequently found in carpets, but high quality

carpets of court manufacture are occasionally woven with silk warps and also wefts. Its

fineness and strength make it an excellent material for high – grade carpets, and silk pile

carpets have at special luster of their own, the best of them being of superb quality

(Haack, 1972).

2.5.5. Carpet designs

Oriental carpet which is a hand knotted woven carpet for covering floor is prepared in

one of seven Asian countries: Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Russia and

China (Schlick,1968).In the past days, the oriental rugs and carpets said more about the

country, city or village where they are woven. But now every thing is changed, the same

design is used by any weaver in any country. It also is true about Persian carpets. In

more than 20 types of Hemedan carpets and rugs, it can be seen Herati and Feraghan

designs and the weavers from Tabriz prefer such designs. Also they are preferred

designs in Nain, Bijars, Senas, Khorassan, Yezds, and many other places. Gula Henna,

the Mina Khani and all flora designs are considered as all over desingns. The Caucasian

rugs, Central Asia carpets and rugs, and Turkish rugs discarded their old designs. But

traditional designs such as Hamadans, Sena Kurds, Bijars, Shiraz, and many others are

still used by many of Iranian weavers. The most interesting fact is that no two similar

designs in a rug are exactly alike. Always there are many little differences in designs.

50

The design and the color used for them are bounded together to create a meaning about

the designs such as Per design, also called Palm Leaf, the Tree of Life design, the

Swastika, the Lotus Flower, Bird of Paradise, Knot of Destiny, Stars of Medes and

many others. The Tree is a symbol of life, whereas the Circle means eternity, and the

Palm means blessing and benediction, the Lotus Flower means immortality. Years

before World War II, Indian carpets and rugs made use of Persian designs. But after the

war, they discarded in favor of French and Chinese designs (Jacobsen, 1962).

Among favorite designs which have a great antiquity, one must mention the swastika

and the sun- wheel, both of which are found in Neolithic art. The tree, or tree of life

motif, is sometimes purely ornamental, but it is true that trees are a symbol of the

Persian paradise and are also identified in the oriental mind with a garden, which in a

dry country stands in contrast to the desert. Certain carpets known as ‘garden carpets’

are definitely designed with a formal Persian garden as prototype, containing a river and

pond as well as trees and plants. A favorite motif in Persian – designed carpets is the

cone pattern (Haack, 1972).

The cloud pattern derives from China and has been a favourite motif in Persian carpets

since at least the sixteenth century. In later carpets it appears in a very stylized and

usually angular form. Dragons and phoenixes are also seen in carpets, usually in rather

simplified form. Both these pattern motifs also derive from China.

Among the best – known pattern arrangements is the so-called Herati pattern, which

derives its name from the town of Herati in Eastern Persia (now Afghanistan). It

consists of a central rosette, set between four surrounding elongated leaves which curve

symmetrically about the centre (Ibid).

Next to the Herati in importance is the Mina Khani pattern. This is made up of a diaper

of large flowers or rosettes, with scrolling floral forms in between. Another favorite

disposition it the medallion pattern which has a design based on a central medallion in

the field, which is surrounded either by a plain ground or by scrolling forms.

Floral forms are the basis of most carpet designs, both as full – blooming flowers and

rosettes, and as leaves, branches and tendrils. One of the most popular flowers is the

carnation, which so frequently fills the borders of Anatolian rugs, shown either in full

bloom or as half – open buds. The peony and rose are also found, the latter particularly

in carpets from Shiraz. The palmette is of course a stylization not strictly linked to any

51

particular flower. Among trees, the cypress, willow and poplar can be recognized, and

in finely worked carpets one often sees fruit trees.

It is surprising to find that fruit plays and insignificant role in the ornamentation of

oriental carpets. The pineapple and pomegranate are sometimes met with and are

difficult to distinguish apart. The pomegranate usually has the connotation of fertility.

The vine, so much used in classical art, is never seen (Ibid).

Animal motifs are frequently seen in Persian carpets, although it is only in the finely –

woven ones that they can be at all exactly rendered: Stags, antelopes, camels, horses and

dogs can be recognized and many birds, such as pheasants, turkeys, peacocks, cranes

and cocks.

Persian rugs are characterized by their tendency to sinuous and flora forms. The artists

of the late Persian carpet revival drew on the traditional designs common to the

decorative arts of Persia, which are found in the tiles that decorated their mosques, and

in their pottery, wood and leather- work. The oriental rugs are made in three distinct

places, the home, the city shop, and the nomadic tent. Early Persian carpets usually

reveal their site of origin because each carpet weaving area utilized designs and patterns

indigenous to that area. Designs indigenous to special areas will be will be discussed

under a separate heading. The following map shows the different region of carpet

weaving with regard to the different design (Ibid).

Figure 2.7: The Map of Iran

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

52

2.5.5.1. Kerman

Figure 2.8: Map of Kerman

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

Carpets from Kerman have the highest reputation among the more modern Persian

carpets. They generally have a light- colored ground; they are very finely woven and the

designs are always carefully studied and rendered (Ibid).

2.5.5.2. Shiraz

Figure 2.9: Map of Shiraz

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

This city has given its name to the carpets made in the surrounding province of Fars.

The Qashqai are one of the best – known tribes of carpet weavers in this province. They

are semi-nomadic and the wool used by them is particularly fine and lustrous; their

designs show a geometric character and small angular figures of animals and birds often

appear. Their carpets have wide borders, and a diagonal pattern known as a barber’s

pole is characteristic; they are pliable and soft to the touch and are rather loosely

knotted (Ibid).

53

2.5.5.3. Isfahan

Figure 2.10: Map of Isfahan

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

A carpet manufacture also once existed in Isfahan. The type of carpet now offered under

this bame is finely woven, with an all – over pattern of sinuous scrolling stems.

Medallion patterns are avoided, but the Herati pattern is much used. The best Isfahan

carpets rival those of Kirman (Ibid). 2.5.5.4. Hamadan

Figure 2.11: Map of Hamedan

Source: wwww.oldcarpet.com

The town of Hamadan lies near the western frontier between Iran and Irak. It is the site

of the Ekbatana of antiquity, once the eapital of Medea and the seat of the government

of Cyrus the Elder who founded the Persian Empire circa 550 B.C. Wide camel hair

borders are a typical feature of Hamadan carpets. The field is usually designed with

medallions set in a row and the secondary ornament is sparse and treated in a somewhat

54

angular manner. The effect of the golden – brown of the camel hair in the border and

the enamel- like colors of the field is very striking in the best examples (Ibid).

.

2.5.5.5. Kermanshah

Figure 2.12: Map of Kermanshah

Source: www. Oldcarpet.com

The carpets from Kermanshah, a town on the western frontier of Persia (not to be

confused with Kirman) used to be greatly prized, but they are now no longer made. The

name has been transferred to carpets made by the Kurds in the neighborhood of this

town, which has become a collecting centre for the trade (Ibid).

.

2.5.5.6. Tabriz

Figure 2.13: Map of Tabriz

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

Tabiriz is the capital of the Province of Azerbaijan and is the chief centre of carpet

manufacture in north – western Persia. It was famous for its carpet manufacture in the

early days of the Safavid dynasty and after a period of abandonment, the manufacture

was revived there in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Tabriz carpets of this

55

revival are very different from those of the earlier period. The knotting is often fine, but

synthetic dyes have been used all too frequently. Medallion patterns are a favourite

design, but the typical angularity of north – west Persia is not found in these Tabriz

carpets of the revival period (Ibid).

.

2.5.5. 7.Khorassan

Figure 2.14: Map of Korassan

Source: www.oldcarpet.com

The region of Khorassan in the east of Persia has produced a splendid series of good

carpets. They are still made in the town of Meshed, which also gives its name to the

carpets made in surrounding area which are collected there. Meshed carpets are usually

large, with medallion patterns, and they favour a plain ground. They have the cone or

Seraband pattern. A number of inferior carpets are inaccurately sold under this name

(Ibid).

2.5.6. Colors and Dyes

Perhaps the most appealing attribute of oriental carpets is their wealth of color, and this

depends for its charm on the sheen and texture of the wool from which each individual

carpet is made. The best carpets seem to achieve a wonderful effect of richness and

splendour. But it is important to realize the difference between the old colors obtained

from natural dyes, whether vegetable or animal, and the modern chemical dyes obtained

in the first place from Europe.

These dyes usually fail to impart the glowing effect of the old vegetable dyes, and when

bright they look merely garish and crude the early chemical dyes which were obtained

56

were misunderstood and improperly compounded; most of them proved extremely

lacking in colors fastness. Although the old vegetable dyes often fade to a greater or less

extent, they seldom lose anything of their original beauty, and the best of them are

relatively fast. Particularly fugitive are mauves, violets and greens. Chemical dyes,

particularly in the early period of their use, proved highly detrimental to the quality of

oriental carpets. It is always important to establish the color – fastness of the dyes of a

given carpet. This can be gauged to some extent by examining the front of the carpet in

contrast to its back and observing the relative degree of fading. By bending back the

knotted pile and examining the wool near the knot, one can see haw much fading has

taken lace at the surface.

It should be remembered that many oriental carpets are made with partly vegetable and

partly chemical dyes, and therefore considerable discretion is to be used in assessing

their value. The best synthetic dyes will stand up to the washing test, and also carpets

where the colors have been fixed the use of certain chemicals, such as chlorine.

Natural dyes are mostly made from plant in the form of roots, seeds, stalks, rinds of

fruit, and suchlike. The colors obtained from vegetable dyes tend to vary a great deal in

shade. The reason for this lies in the technique of dyeing into which a number of

imponderable factors enter. Madder root is a source for many shades of red, and the age

of the root plays an important part in establishing its tone. Blue is obtained from the

indigo plant through oxidization with air. From the stamens of saffron, a kind of crocus

and excellent yellow is obtained, but it is a rare and valuable color and for this reason

very seldom used today. Yellow is also obtained from vine leaves and the rind of

pomegranates. Dark brown and black are obtained from the gall – nut, a parasite which

lives mainly upon oaks; but black dyes usually contain a certain amount of iron oxide

and this is a great disadvantage, since with exposure to light the acid tends to eat

through the woolen fiber and dissolve it in time.

Purple is normally obtained from the blending of red and blue dyes. Pink is a relatively

rare color. Green is a rare color for the ground of a carpet since it is the sacred color of

Mohammedans and associated with the Prophet. No believer will step on a green carpet

with his feet (Ibid).

57

Source of Rugs & Carpets Coloration

ColorsSources

RedRoot of wild Madder

BlueIndigo Plants

GreenTurmeric Berries

BlackLogwood Plants

KhakiNuts or Tree Bark

YellowSaffron, Pomegranate Plant

SalmonDepleted Madder Dye

BrownTannin, Oak Tree Galls, Iron

There are more colors that are used in Persian rugs and carpets.

Table 2.4: Source of Rugs & Carpets Coloration

Source: www .old carpet .com

2.5.7. Traditional arts in Iran

The world “traditional arts” commonly relates to those specific arts that roots deeply in

the artistic traditions of a specific country and can be considered as the natural

continuation of the old arts of the land. Some authors or experts refer to these arts as

“handicrafts”.

A lot of arts of this kind have survived in the country and according to its geographic

and economic conditions, each region has succeeded to keep a number of these arts

alive over the years. Usually, such crafts include skills which people yet uses in

everyday lives and among the great number of different styles which are present now,

those having deeper roots in the ancient artistic culture seem to bloom in cities and

regions where are considered among the cultural and artistic or political and economic

centers. At presently, among the most important and productive towns and cities in

question are Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz. Isfahan traditional arts which received great

attention after the Islamic Revolution, particularly as part of the “artistic revival”,

include the textile industry (Ayatollahi, 2003).

58

No doubt, the floor coverings, among the other Iranian traditional such as arts and

handicrafts, hold a special place (Namju&Khansari, 2002).

2.6. Advertisement

Capella and Greco (1987) report that travel services constitute a high involvement

product, and tourists are likely to spend significant time engaging in an external search

for information. During the search for information about a product or service, the

function of advertising is to inform and persuade the undecided consumer.

Advertising effectiveness is thus associated with the way the consumer subsequently

processes the content of the advertisement (Ducoffe, 1996).

Advertising is actually a force moving people up a seven step series:

1) Potential purchasers are those completely unaware of the existence of the product or

service.

2) People who are merely aware of its existence are on the second level.

3) Those who know what the product has to offer are on the third.

4) The fourth level consists of those who like the product: they have favorable attitudes

about it.

5) Once they develop favorable attitude for a product, they also develop a preference.

6) Those on the sixth level couple preference with a desire to purchase, feeling that the

purchase would be a wise action.

7) Purchasers are on the seventh level, and the level for which all advertising

strives(Lavidge and Steiner, 1968).

.

59

Figure 2.15: A Model for Predictive Measurements MOVEMENT TOWARD

PURCHASE

PURCHASE

CONVICTION

PREFERENCE

LINKING

KNOWLEDGE

AWARENESS

Source: Lavidge and Steiner, 1968

Example of Types of Promotion or Advertising Relevant to Various Steps

Point-of-purchase Retail store ads "Last Chance offers Price appeals Testimonials

Announcements Descriptive copy

Classified ads Slogans Jingles

Sky writing Teaser campaigns

Related Behavioral Dimensions

CONVICTION -the realm of motives. Ads stimulate or direct desires.

COGNITIVE - The realm of thoughts .Ads

provide information and facts

Competitive ads Argumentative copy "Image ads" Status, glamour appeal

AFFECTIVE

- the realm of emotions. Ads change attitudes

and feeling.

60

Effective advertising is a composite of the individual parts of the copy, acting as a

whole, to promote the product to a selected segment of the population _its audience

.Advertising, therefore, over the years has developed into a refined system to promote,

in a socially acceptable manner, some product or services. Past evidence has indicated

that the more honest and believable an advertisement is the more successful it will be in

selling its product.

2.6.1. Tourism advertisements

Advertising serves as an excellent medium for social evaluation. Marketers strive to

fulfill societal needs by their products. Advertisers clarify what needs exist and how

such needs can be met by their products .Examining advertisements can indicate

existent needs in society (Stumpf, 1976)."People are very prone to be influenced by

advertisement and tourist agent and operators are not slow to press psychology into

service……"(Robinson, 1976:32).Although the touristic experience is outside the social

space of tourist, in that such an experience is foreign to people s everyday lives; travel

advertisement are not .Advertising to which people are exposed molds the stories people

tell of their touring experience." This phenomenon is even stronger because the

adverting world knows how to use the feedback generated by the reactions of various

social groups in search of cultural and ideological model …… all societies need to have

some kind of hierarchy, not so much by income but rather by conspicuous consumption

(Thurot and Thurot 1983:176-177).Thus, advertising represents both commercial

competition and competition among the social classes, where social class is created

through the things people consume."Commodities have values as social signs in the

minds of people who produce them (Thurot and Thurot 1983:175).Producers and

advertisers both recognize the social structuring mechanism of their output. Examining

tourists directly cannot adequately answer many questions asked by researchers.

Advertisements, recognized as a reflection of (and a contributor to) consumer society,

can provide answer to these questions.

Few studies have examined travel advertisements .Those addressing such

advertisements such advertisements generally are interested in them only as an

informational source for tourists, but not the content of that information. Several authors

attempted to determine the sources of information tourists used in planning vacations.

61

There is a basic mix of informational sources people used: personal acquaintances and

travel brochures are consistently named as the tourists ' principle sources of information.

Most people also state that travel advertisements (in magazines) are a prime source of

information (Henderson and Vailand1975; Goodrich 1979; Nolan 1976).The

information contained in travel brochures and advertisements is a reservoir of travel

information available to the researcher: it is advertisements, and not the vacation, which

comprise the tourists' social space (Thurot and Thurot, 1983). As such, these

advertisements can provide objective information about many intangible aspects of

tourism and tourists.

2.6.2. Persian carpet and advertisement

The main problem of carpet sellers is their lack of a certain establishment for

advertising their carpets on a large scale and their efforts to market their goods

individually .In the event of close competition with their rivals, they have sometimes to

take unfair measures. The closed trade practices of these traders have played a key role

in the lower demands for Persian carpets on international markets than for carpet of

other countries .However, they cannot be blamed for not being committed to their

colleagues or wanting to maintain their individual profits. Therefore, it is the duty of

Iranian carpet policy maker to take serious measures to employ modern marketing

methods and replace the current closed trade system with a better trade system

(Helfgott, 1994).

2.7. Textile souvenir

In the context of textile souvenirs, Littrell (1990) identified five categories of tourist

consumers. The Shopping-oriented tourists are the first category, who keeps on locating

shops, craftsperson, bargaining, and using a foreign language. The bargaining/shopping

experiences, meeting the craftsmen, are considerable values added to the trip and the

buying experience. The interaction with the artists and sellers causes this group feel

good about themselves and be provided with important memories about the souvenirs

they buy. Shopping tourists are the youngest of all; average age of this group is 39

years. An example is tourist experience about Iranian carpet: I had worked for about a

year in China and was coming home via Iran. It was during overthrowing. I was

62

planning to stay in Iran about two weeks, but as soon as we landed we were kept in the

airport. Everything I had brought with me was taken. An Iranian gentleman was

witnessing the whole event; he approached me and asked me if I could have whished

anything from Iran and I answered I always wanted a Persian rug. We talked about the

color and six later this rug arrived in the mail. I think it is from him. Because he was the

only one who ever knew I wanted one. It is my memory of the circumstances.

The second group is authenticity-seeking tourists. An important part of tourists’ travel

experience is to search for authenticity. For this group, the knowledge that the souvenir

is not produced for the tourists is very important. Descriptions to represent authenticity

include: genuine, indigenous, traditional, and part of local heritage. The used materials,

colors, motifs, design, and production method ensure this group about the authenticity.

Another indicator is if the local residents are using the products themselves. The

moderate age of members in this group is about 41.

An example of this group is provided here.

Nigerian hand-woven cloth: we went to a village and bought these two white pieces of

cloth. The village was located in an area where was destroyed by the Civil War. This

souvenir has special meaning to me because it directly comes from the weavers and an

area where it is a tradition.

The authentic textiles are considered as symbols from cultural ties tourists had come to

admire. Such textile crafts can enrich tourists’ lives through enhancing their views about

the ways people live.

Special-trip tourists, the third group of Littrell’s souvenir consumers is not concerned

about the relationship between souvenir and the culture visited, but they want to keep

memories from the travel experienced. The bought crafts recall the travel experiences,

sites seen, and activities undertaken. This group emphasizes the memories of particular

relationship and friendship formed between them and local people. An example of this

group is here:

Saudi Arabian saddle cloth: I purchased it on a pilgrimage to Mecca which was really a

miraculous trip that I was even admitted and allowed to make the trip. I don’t think I’ll

never get back there. Although it isn’t really lovely, but it was the piece of weaving I

could find and it was from that place.

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The fourth group is enjoyment tourists. These kinds of tourists enjoy the intrinsic beauty

of design, workmanship, and colors in the crafts they purchase. The items are for them

beautiful, stunning, unusual, and bring aesthetic pleasure. The fifth group apparel-

oriented tourists enjoy buying cloth and dresses to wear at home and parties. They enjoy

wearing and showing their dresses and their lifestyle. The meaning accompanied the

clothes are deepening when they are specially tailored. For members of the cluster,

textiles are especially important because the intrinsic qualities bring an aesthetic

pleasure to the owners. An example is here:

Thai silk cloth: I will get a feel as I made it sew and ordered a design for it. When it was

prepared as I liked, it got a lot more special meaning to me.

Table 2.5: types and characteristics of textile souvenir consumer tourists Shopping-oriented tourists

a) enjoy finding shops

b) enjoy interacting with craftsmen

c) enjoy bargaining

d) enjoy using foreign language

Authenticity-seeking tourists

a) want items not specially created for tourist

b) materials, colors, and motifs are important point in determining authenticity

c) want items they describe as indigenous, genuine, traditional, and local

Special-trip tourists

a) not concerned about the relation between the souvenir and the local culture

b) concerned about preserving memories

c) handicrafts recall friends, places, sites, and activities seen and done on trip

d) memories of special relationship while away from home are important

Textiles for enjoyment tourists

a) appreciate the intrinsic beauty found in the design, workmanship, and colors of handicrafts

b) display their souvenirs conspicuously at home

c) souvenirs give them aesthetic pleasure

Apparel-oriented tourists

a) buy cloth and clothing items to wear at home

b) tend to wear clothes to reflect their personality

c) products’ meaning deepens with finding out where they are made

Source: based upon Littrell (1990)

64

2. 8. Tourists’ souvenir behavior researches

Researchers have divided the study of tourist souvenir shopping behavior in two major

paths. In one direction, they have focused on souvenir producers and studied the

influence of product commercialization on artisans’ products and their life (Cohen,

1992, 1993). Along the second path, they have studied the tourist consumers of

souvenirs. All they have explored included: the meaning tourists attached to souvenirs

(Bentor, 1993; Gordon, 1986; Littrell, 1990; Morris, 1991; Shenhav-Keller, 1993;

Wallendorf and Arnould, 1988); linkage of product choice to tourism styles (Graburn,

1989; Littrell et al., 1994); definitions of souvenir authenticity (Cohen, 1988; Littrell,

Anderson and Brown, 1993); and relations among age, gender, and souvenir behaviors

(Anderson and Littrell, 1995, 1996).

2.8.1. Textile souvenir researches

Several studies have tried to identify dimensions by which tourists evaluate souvenirs

(Littrell, 1987, 1990). In a recent study, international tourists were asked to describe the

meanings related to the favorite textile crafts they purchase during the travels. A rich

variety of meanings are identified by tourists in crafts purchased during travels. For

some tourists, meaning of their purchased textiles is focused only on one category. For

others, meanings are multidimensional, incorporating several categories Their responses

were analyzed and five categories were determined: textile users related to shopping

experiences, associations with place, associations with culture, personal memories of

travel, instincts qualities (Table ##). The other reason was the importance of aesthetic

qualities such as appealing colors and design. The other criteria confirmed by tourists

were related to products quality, use, and uniqueness. Easiness of the products to pack

or carry on a trip was the other value considered by the shopper tourists (Littrell, 1994).

65

Table 2.6: Categories of content for analysis of favorite tourist textiles

I. Use of textiles a. longevity of ownership or use b. use of textiles in the home c. Use of textiles for clothing

II. Shopping experiences with textiles a. Shopping (other than interacting with craftsperson or seller) b. Interaction with or observation craftsmen or seller

III. Textile association with place or culture: history, culture, tradition, colors, design, or techniques of textile considered to be typical or associated with a Place or culture. IV. Personal memories of travel: textile evokes memories of a place or culture V. intrinsic qualities of textiles

A. aesthetic properties 1. general positive evaluation 2. color 3. design, motif, or pattern

b. general positive evaluation c. specific aspects of design, including motif, design combination,

interaction of colors with design B. physical properties: fabric quality, fiber content, texture C. Unusual or novel D. Workmanship

1. Handwork, handmade, specific technique 2. Quality of workmanship 3. Admiration for craftsperson or time involved in production

E. age of piece or antique F. cost or investment

Littrell et al. (1993) stated the purpose and results of her research in titled “what makes

a carft souvenir authentic?” as follows: “The purpose of the research was to broaden

understanding of souvenir consumption through empirical examination of the concept

of authenticity in crafts souvenir. Descriptions about crafts authenticity obtained from

385 Midwestern US tourists were content analyzed for significant theme. To define

authenticity, tourist used criteria which included crafts’ uniqueness, workmanship,

aesthetic and use, cultural and historical integrity, and genuineness. The other factors

contributed to the authenticity were characteristics of the craftsmen and the shopping

experience. Definition of the authenticity varied with the tourists’ age, stage of travel,

and tourists’ style, but not with tourists’ gender.”

66

Study of authenticity was based on naturalistic inquiry in which the reasons for

explanations and behaviors of tourists were productively described (Littrell, Kean,

Gahring, Niemeyer, Reilly, Scout, & Baizerman, 1990). One part of the surrey was the

questions on craft authenticity, which were mailed to a random sample about 1964

individuals seeking information from Bureaus of Tourism in Iowa, Minnesota, and

Nebraska during 1989.

1370 (70 %) individuals, from whom 740 (54%) persons had visited really one of the

states between January and October in 1989, returned the survey; they formed the

sample of study. Of the 600 tourists how bought crafts, 385 tourists gave some

descriptions about their perceptions of authenticity. Respondents included 71% females

and 29% males; their average age was 44 years. The tourists’ descriptions about

authenticity were content analyzed. In another part of the survey, tourists stated 35

travel activities of importance to them during the travel. Activities were measured on a

7-point Likert-type scale with 1 being “the activity is very unimportant as you travel’

and 7 being “the activity is very important as you travel”. These activities were used to

identify the tourists’ styles to which authenticity definitions may be related.

According to the research findings, tourists define craft authenticity in many ways.

By way of introduction, the tourist’s descriptions of authenticity resulted in eight main

themes. Some tourists to Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska have focused on the product

itself and considered workmanship, craft’s uniqueness and originality, aesthetics,

cultural and historic integrity, function and use the authenticity as. A little over 2/3

(68%) of the tourists comments are placed in these five major categories (Table 1). In

contrast to the product focus, twenty three percent of the tourist consumers believed that

the craft authenticity was associated with characteristics of the craftsmen or artisans and

the used material. Finally, some tourists (9%) focused on the issue of authenticity versus

fakeness which was linked to both the product and the shopping encounter.

The results of this research in terms of considering aesthetics and genuineness can be

compared with current study which investigates the beauty of carpet and advertising

about it, considering attitudes of shopper tourists of Iranian hand-woven carpets in

Isfahan.

67

Table 2.7.Content categories for analysis of authenticity in crafts Of Table Number of Comments Content Category (22.5)a (188) Uniqueness and Originality 12.8 107Unique, original 5.8 48Copying, duplication, mass production 1.6 13Original color or design 2.4 20Availability (18.9) (158)Workmanship 11.5 96Handmade production 7.4 62Quality construction, workmanship, materials (6.0) (50)Aesthetics 3.6 30Holistic evaluation 0.7 6Color: Personal preference 0.6 5Design: intricate (1.6) (13)Design: traditional, regional (18.9) (158)Function and Use 12.6 105Cultural representation 2.6 22Historical representation 3.7 31Not imported (21.2) (177)Craftsperson and Materials 14.0 117Local craft production, artisan, technique 2.2 18Natural materials 1.7 14Integrity of materials 3.4 28Materials of region (2.2) (18)Shopping Experience (8.7) (73)Genuine 3.6 30Genuine product 5.2 43Producer identification 100.0% 835Totals

a The numbers and percentages in parentheses are the totals for the subcategories under the major category .Due to rounding , the numbers in the percentages do not always equal the percentage for the category as a whole.

Source: Littrell et al. (1993)

In their research “segmentation by craft selection criteria and shopping involvement”

Yu and Ho (2007) made use of the following methodology:

Based on the reviews of literatures and survey instrument, a questionnaire, including

frequency of tourism product purchasing, tourism shopping location, shopping

information sources, and shopping expenditure, was formed. Two aspects of tourism

shopping were examined by the survey: craft selection factors and shopping

involvement. Also included were demographic questions of gender, age, ethnicity,

marital status, house hold composition, education, employment status, and household

income. The statistical population included 150 females and 150 males, out of them 145

and 126 participants answered the survey, respectively. The participation rates were

96.7% and 84.0%, respectively. From total of 271 surveys, 199 responses were used for

data analysis.

68

A triple data analysis was applied to the data. First, explorative factors were analyzed to

determine fundamental dimensions of craft selection criteria. By applying Cronbach’s

alpha tests, the reliability of dimensions was assessed. Its value was above 0.6, which is

indicative of internal consistency (Hair et al., 1998). Likert scale was used for a 17-item

crafts selection criterion with 1 representing “strongly disagree” to 7 representing

“strongly agree” (Yu, 2000). Shopping involvement was composed in the second step of

analysis. The scale adapted in this study was modified PII scale prepared by Mittal

(1995). The scale’s internal consistency and reliability was tested by Cronbach’s alpha

tests. The alpha value of 0.97 was obtained which was consistent with Zaichkowsky’s

(1985). Loker and Perdue (1992) redefined the assessment criteria of reachability and

accessibility. These criteria were measured by travel information and respondents’

demographics. Chi-squire analysis and ANOVA were the tools used to assess the

performance of each segment. SNK tests were used to study the mean differences of

variables throughout the criteria. The results indicated the travelers’ shopping-related

beliefs and behaviors of crafts souvenirs. The tourists are heterogeneous in terms of

shopping crafts souvenirs (Cohen, 1992). This study defined three distinctive groups:

enthusiastic shoppers, shopping lovers, and indifferent shoppers. The first group is

considered as a niche market, and they performs the best in terms of profitability.

Shopping lovers, the second group, are relatively profitable. But the third group,

indifferent shoppers, doesn’t care for and have little interesting in shopping and causes

in lower profitability. The results from this study, indicating travelers’ shopping-related

beliefs, are consistent with the current study, indicating factors influencing upon

tourists’ attitudes towards Iranian handmade carpets.

Littrell (1990) concluded in her research “symbolic significant of textile crafts for

tourists” that crafts hold for tourists some meanings whose exploration strengthens

understanding of tourists’ behavior and relates with the craftsmen’s knowledge of

customers. Crafts, and memories associated with them, help customers take part in

nonordinary experiences and lifestyle.

In this study, the interview with the tourists was the tool of studying and consisted of

interviewing with tourists during shopping, interviewing toward the end of a trip,

interviewing at tourists’ home. The interviews conducted in homes included 98

international tourists (89 females and 9 males). Ages of them were in the range of 25-82

69

years. A questionnaire was prepared and majority of questions were open-ended. Also

the respondents completed a questionnaire related to modes of travels and preferences

for travel activities. The respondents described 134 specific textiles crafts. Analysis of

41-possible travel activities was performed on a scale of 1 (very unimportant as you

travel) to 7 (very important as you travel). The majority of the respondents gave 6 or

higher to 12 activities. They included eating new or unusual foods, exploring ethnics or

historic neighborhoods, going to local markets, encountering with local residents (for

example, on the day of a festival), loitering in the city, visiting rural places famous for

their handicrafts. Data was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Cluster analysis

was a statistical instrument for categorizing peoples into groups determined by the

content of interview data. Ward’s method of hierarchical cluster analysis was chosen

because of its tendency to identify a participant as a separate cluster (SAS User’s Guide

1985).

The results from this study, “symbolic significant of textile crafts for tourists”, are

consistent with the current study, indicating factors influencing upon tourists’ attitudes

towards Iranian handmade carpets.

Gholipoor Solaymani (1985) states in his thesis “investigating effective factors on

exporting Iranian handmade carpet” that exporting Iranian carpet is influenced by

various factors. Based on studies and investigations performed in governmental and

private organizations involving in carpet exporting affairs, exporting this product is

function of three factors:

1- The average price of various exporting handmade carpets

2- Floating exchange rate

3- Figurative factor related to the war which shows the limitations associated with the

war.

The aim of his study was defining the rate of each factor’s effects on exporting carpets.

Therefore, he determined some theories such as:

1- The price is effective in process of exporting handmade carpets.

2- Exchange rate is effective factor in enhancing the rate of exporting handmade

carpets.

3- The war between Iran and Iraq caused in the reduction of export rate of carpets in

1981-1988.

70

To select the model and the tests for each of above theories, multivariable regression

was sued. The methodology of study was of Library based on gathering data from

organizations exporting carpets. The results showed that all three theories were

approved, so that the price was the most effective factor in exporting carpet. After that,

floating exchange rate was determinant of this kind of product. The war, as a variable,

had reversed relation with exporting carpet. The results of this study, determining the

price as effective factor for exporting carpets to abroad customers, are along with the

results from present study which define the price as one of factors in tourists shopping.

Veghar (1988) described the result of his research through questionnaire based on the

needs of exporters of handmade carpets, in the form of his thesis “role of government in

exporting Iranian carpet”, as follows:

1- Improving the qualities of exporting carpets.

2- Offering proper facilities for improving the situation of carpet exports.

3- Stabilizing the decisions made by government in the field of exporting carpet at lest

for 3 years.

4- Stabilizing exchange rate.

The study was based on questionnaire which distributed among 50 exporters of carpet.

The results from above study, in terms of improving the qualities of exported carpets as

effective factor in attracting customers, are along with the current research investigating

the relation between quality of handmade carpet and tourists’ shopping in Iran.

71

Chapter 3

Methodology

3.1. Introduction

Achieving the scientific goals or knowledge is impossible, unless using a correct

methodology. In other words, one of determining features about the value and validity

of a research is the method researcher chooses to perform his task. Choosing the correct

method not only helps the researcher to perform the study easily, but also leads to more

robust and valid results. This chapter deals with the method used to obtain the results

and the following steps are discussed:

3.2. Research purpose

There are many ways to carry out research. Most types of research can be classified

according to how much the researcher knows about the problem before starting the

investigation.

Descriptive research could be in direct could be in direct connection to exploratory

research, since research might have started by wanting to gain insights to a problem,

and after having stated it, their research become descriptive (Saunders et al., 2000).The

objective of this kind of research is to provide a description of various phenomenons

connected to individuals, situations, or events that occur. The descriptive research may

also be used when developing empirical generalizations. Once such generalizations

begins to appear, they are worth explaining, which leads to theory development (Ibid).

The research problem of this thesis indicates that this study is descriptive, intends to

find out and describe factors influencing the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

handmade carpet in Isfahan, by stating the existing theories, annual reports, statistics

and issues related to the subject.

Regarding the objective of this study, that is, investigation the factors influencing the

attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpet in Isfahan, this research is an

applied one.

72

3.3. Research approach

The research approach is often either quantitative or qualitative. The qualitative and

quantitative methods refer to the way one chooses to treat and analyze the selected data.

Both of these approaches have their strengths and weaknesses and neither one of them

can be held better than one .However, the best approach to use for a study depends on

the purpose of the study and the accompanying research question (Yin, 1994).

Eldabi et al (2002, as feedback)identified quantitative research typically has a "logical

and linear structure " , in which hypothesis take the form of expectations about likely

causal links between the constituent concepts identified in the hypotheses .Thus , the

determination of the causal links specified by the hypotheses will result in the

acceptance , or rejection of the theoretical propositions. Hence, quantitative research

places emphasis on methodology, procedures, and statistical measures of validity.

Quantitative research methods also rely on the measurement and analysis of statistical

data, to determine relationships between the one set of data top another. The

measurement of these variables may produce quantifiable conclusion .Selecting the

subjects of the study randomly is desirable to reduce error and cancel bias. Moreover,

the sample of subject is drawn to reflect the population (Newman&Benz, 1998).In using

this approach, a large number of respondents must be selected (Yin, 1994).

In qualitative approach a fewer number of object are studied. The purpose is to gain a

deeper knowledge of the studied objects. The qualitative approach is used when the

researcher wants to obtain more data that are detailed and when it includes feeling,

values and attitudes (Yin, 1994).

The quantitative approach was found to be the most suitable for the purpose of this

thesis. The purpose is to gain in a deeper understanding of factors on attitudes of

tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpet in Isfahan. Based on our research question,

as well as the above discussion, the chosen approach for this research is of quantitative.

Besides, this research is an analytical one.

Quantitative research tends to be associated with the numbers as the unite of analysis.

Analysis means the separation of something into its component parts. To do this, of

course, the researcher first needs to identify what those parts might be, and links with a

further meaning of analysis, which is to trace things back to their underlying sources

(Denscombe, 2005).

73

3.4. Research strategy There are a number of approaches for a researcher to make when conducting empirical

data collection. Depending on the character of research question, the researcher can

choose between an experiment, a survey, history, an analysis of archival records and a

case study (Yin, 1994). These are shown in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Relevant situations for different research strategies

strategyForm of research

question

Requires control

over behavioral

events

Focuses on

contemporary

events

ExperimentHow, whyYes Yes

Survey

Who, what .where,

How may,

How much

No Yes

Archival Analysis

Who, what .where,

How may,

How much

NoYes / N

HistoryHow ,whyNoNo

Case studyHow , whyNoYes

Since this thesis aims to investigate the factors influencing the attitude of tourists

shopping Iranian handmade carpet in Isfahan, the strategy which suits for study, is a

survey one .It is a technique in which information is collected form a sample of people

through a questionnaire (Zikmund, 2000). Because the research question is in form of

what-question and according to Yin 1994, the relevant research study is a survey one.

Because this study uses secondary data such as books and articles for literature review,

as well as field methods such as questionnaire and its goal is to recognize the properties,

references, and behaviors of different individuals of the society by referring to them. It

can be said that the present study is descriptive-survey in terms of essence and the

method.

74

3.5. Statistical universe

The statistical universe includes a set of total possible scales or recorded data and

information about the total sum of unites we want to deduct. The object of the research

is the society and gathering data means extracting the results about the society

(Batachria & Janson, 2000).

Briefly, the statistical universe includes all the real or vitual members, a group of

individuals, events, and the things to which the researcher extends his/her findings. In

this study, the statistical universe is all foreign tourists traveled to Isfahan and referred

to the famous carpet shops.

3.6. Sampling method and the volume of sample

Sampling is one of steps in a scientific research which allows the researcher to reach the

result by applying fewer facilities and saves time and money, in other word; it consists

of selecting typical individuals among the members of a society based on special rules.

Sampling methods are different (willey &Inc, 1992). The method used in this study is

simple random sampling. According to information from central office in Isfahan, there

are 103 carpet shops with official certification in Isfahan and researcher has gone to the

carpet shops and ask tourist to fill out the questionnaire.

Simple random sampling is a sampling design which all elements in the population are

considered and each element has an equal chance of being chosen as the subject. The

advantage of this sampling design is high generalizability of findings. The disadvantage

of this method is that not as efficient as stratified sampling (willey &Inc, 1992).

To determine the sample volume, the researcher can use the variance and the parameters

in previous studies. Otherwise, the researcher must determine the society variance and

use. In this study to determine the sample volume, it was used the questionnaires

distributed among 30 foreign tourists in Isfahan, and the sample volume was calculated

at assurence level 95% as follows:

2

2

22

d

sZn

α

=

75

Where n=sample volume, z=the value of statistic of the test at assurence level 95%, d=

allowed error per percent, s= sample variance.

2

22

)05.0()28.0()96.1(103 ×

=

3.7. Data collection method

According to (Wiedersheim-Paul & Eriksson, 1998) and (Yin, 1994) there are two ways

of collecting data: Primary and secondary data. Primary data are collected for a specific

research in response to a specific problem, whereas secondary data has already been

collected for another purpose. The secondary data was collected from the academic

articles, books, reports govt. publication for my litreture review. The needed primary

data for this research was obtained through questionnaires which are used after

determining the validity and the reliability in order to answer research question. For this

study both primary and secondary data have been used.

3.8. Data gathering tool

The most used tool in this study is the questionnaire made by the researcher. The

questionnaire was used to gather the data and to determine the factors affecting the

attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan along with the

objectives of the study (appendix 1). 3.8.1. Questionnaire

The questionnaire, as the most common tool in survey researches for gathering data,

consists of a set of goal-directed questions which measures the respondents’ views and

knowledge by using various scales (willey &Inc, 1992). The research is examined in the format of 4 major hypotheses of which the

corresponding supportive questions are as follows:

The supportive questions for the first hypothesis: 8, 10, 11,12,13,15,16,17,20,

The supportive questions for the second hypothesis: 3, 7,21,22,25

The supportive questions for the third hypothesis: 14,19,26,28

76

The supportive questions for the fourth hypothesis: 1, 2, 4,5,6,18,23,24,27,28.

3.9. Validity and reliability

To assess a questionnaire or any other tools, there are two criteria: validity and

reliability. If the questionnaire has tow criteria, this means that the error rate done by the

researcher in the process of measuring factors is reduced to zero. So the validity and

reliability are the opposite points of the errors so that the less the errors done by the

researcher, the more validity in the process of measuring. The following describes the

validity and the reliability of the study (willey &Inc, 1992).

3.9.1. Validity

The validity implies that the measuring tool can really assess the given features, not any

other variable. The validity rate of measuring tool must be already determined in order

the results to be of significant. A questionnaire or test can not contain validity without

the reliability (theoretically and practically). So a valid test may have not any validity,

therefore the reliability is prerequisite of validity of a test but is not sufficient (willey

&Inc, 1992).

To validate this research, the nominal validity was used so that the questionnaire was

reviewed by related professors and authorities including supervisor and consulting

advisor and their views approved the questionnaire collectively. 3.9.2. Reliability

One of technical features of measuring tool is reliability showing how equal the results

are obtained in the same conditions. One of calculation methods for reliability is

Cronbach Alpha which is used to calculate the coordination of measuring tools such as

questionnaires. In such tools each respond to the questions can take any scores. To

calculate Cronbach Alpha, at first the variance of scores related to the subset of

questionnaire (or test) and then the total variance is calculated, after that by using the

following formula, their values are determined (willey &Inc, 1992).

77

⎥⎥⎦

⎤

⎢⎢⎣

⎡−

−= ∑

2

2

11 α

αs

sk

k i

= number of questions, k Where α = Cronbach alpha coefficient,

= variance related to the ith question 2is = variance of the test location.,

2αs

The calculated Cronbach alpha for this research resulted from a primary study by

distributing 30 questionnaires among foreign tourists in Isfahan is 81.08%.

3.10. Research variables

Variable is a factor shared between the individuals of a society and can have different

values. They are categorized very differently. The variables are categorized into three

groups based on the relation: independent variable, intermediate variable, and

dependent variable. The independent variable serves as a cause and affects upon the

others, and is the origin of the events and the recognition of the independent variable

and its rate is the goal of most researches. The dependent variable is dependent to the

independent variable and in fact it accounts for the result of the independent variable.

The intermediate variable is one considered once as independent and in other time as

intermediate (willey &Inc, 1992). . In the present study, the independent variable is

shopping carpets in Isfahan, and advertising by the salesmen, carpet type, price, and the

aesthetic aspects are dependent variable.

3.11. Used statistical methods

The existing methods in descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, present for

comparing the gathered data by questionnaire were used in this study. In the deductive

statistics, the software SPSS was used for statistical tests as follows:

78

3.11.1. Freedman test

Freedman test was used to ranking the factors affecting the attitude of tourists shopping

Iranian handmade carpet in Isfahan.

3.11.2. One-sample t test

In this study to analyze the questions in order to approve or disapprove the hypotheses,

the one-sample t test was used.

3.12. Summary

This chapter consists of ten parts: research purpose, research approach, research

strategy,statistical universe, sampling method, sample volume, data gathering method,

tool for gathering data, validity and reliability of the research, research variables, and

statistical methods used to test the research hypotheses.

79

Chapter 4

Data analysis

4.1. Introduction

One of fundamental principles in every study and research is analyzing the data and

information by a valid tool. By gathering the data, a new step in research, known as

analyzing the data, begins. This step is important. In this step, the researcher tries to

assess and examine the data by various methods in order to test the questions. To do this

step correctly, the gathered data must be processed scientifically by statistical methods

and converted to applicable information. This chapter deals with analyzing the

information and data from the questionnaire and consists of the followings:

Examining and describing the information from the questionnaire by using the

frequency index and frequency percent, examining the research hypotheses by using

Freedman test and one-sample test.

4.2. Examining demographic information of statistical sample

Regarding the data from sampling and using descriptive statistical methods such as

frequency, and frequency percent, it deals with the demographic information of

statistical sample in this chapter.

4.2.1. Examining statistical sample based on gender

The tourists’ gender was dealt with in this chapter and it revealed that 53.4% and 43.7%

of it were male and female, respectively.

80

GENDER

femalemaleMissing

Cou

nt

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Fig.4.1: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on gender.

4.2.2. Examining statistical sample based on nationality

Also, this chapter dealt with the nationality of tourists and it was obvious that German

nationality had the most share, 20.4%, and also French and Astutalian had important

share.

81

Table 4.1: Examining statistical sample based on nationality.

NATIONALITY

FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative Percent

ValidGerman2120.420.820.8Danish32.93.023.8Austrian54.95.028.7Moroccan11.01.029.7New Zealand32.93.032.7Finnish21.92.034.7Swiss32.93.037.6Chinese21.92.039.6South. Korean21.92.041.6Netherlander21.92.043.6American76.86.950.5Australian109.79.960.4Canadian32.93.063.4Polish43.94.067.3French1110.710.978.2Iraqi32.93.081.2British65.85.987.1Spanish11.01.088.1Mexican11.01.089.1Italian21.92.091.1Argentine11.01.092.1Swedish11.01.093.1Irish11.01.094.1Japanese21.92.096.0Nigerian11.01.097.0Czechoslovak11.01.098.0Norwegian11.01.099.0Russian11.01.0100.0Total10198.1100.0

MissingSystem 21.9Total103100.0

4.2.3. Examining statistical sample based on age

In this chapter, the study examined the age of tourists and found that the most and the

least share were dedicated to the age more than 52 by 40.8%, and the age 32-41 by

14.6%, respectively.

82

AGE

over 5242-5132-4121-31Missing

Cou

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

Fig.4.2: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on age

4.2.4. Examining statistical sample based on marital status

The marital status was examined in this chapter and it revealed that married status had

the most shares, 43.7%.

83

MARITAL

w idow eddivorcedmarriedsingleMissing

Cou

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

Fig.4.3: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on marital status.

4.2.5. Examining statistical sample based on education level

Academic degree of tourists was examined in this chapter and it revealed that the

degrees MS and PhD had the most shares, 45.6%, and the academic education under the

high school had the least share, 6.8%.

84

EDUCATIO

master or phdbachelore degree

high schoolhigh school dropped

Cou

nt

50

40

30

20

10

0

Fig.4.4: Bar graph describing statistical sample based on education level.

4.3. Examining the research hypotheses

Generally, the aim of testing any statistical hypothesis, according to the found

information, is determining whether the judgment about a society’s property is

approved significantly. This judgment is a kind of claim about a parameter in the

society. In fact, any judgment about the society can be called a statistical hypothesis

whose approval is examined by the information from a sample of that society. This

chapter, using the data from sampling and statistical test, will examine and test the

research hypotheses.

First hypothesis

Advertising by salesmen will influence the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

handmade carpets in Isfahan.

EDUCATION

85

In this test, the statistical hypothesis is indicated as follows:

⎩⎨⎧

>≤

3:3:

1

0

µµ

HH

To test this hypothesis, the assumption 1H indicates that the average of response scores

is greater than 3 at confidence level 95%, and the assumption 0H indicates that the

average of response scores is smaller than or equal to 3.

According to table 4-8, since the statistic is significant at p ≤ 5%, so 0H is disapproved

and the opposite assumption 1H is approved.

Table 4.2: one-sample t test related to first hypothesis

One-Sample Test Test Value = 3

tdfSig. (2-tailed)Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

LowerUpperH13.149102.002.1602.0593.2611

So it can be said with 95% confidence that advertising by salesmen has a little influence

upon the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

Second hypothesis

Quality of carpets will influence the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade

carpets in Isfahan.

In this test, the statistical hypothesis is indicated as follows:

⎩⎨⎧

>≤

3:3:

1

0

µµ

HH

86

To test this hypothesis, the assumption 1H indicates that the average of response scores

is greater than 3 at confidence level 95%, and the assumption 0H indicates that the

average of response scores is smaller than or equal to 3.

According to table 4-9, since the statistic is significant at p ≤ 5%, so 0H is disapproved

and the opposite assumption. 1H is approved.

Table 4.3: one-sample t test related to second hypothesis.

One-Sample Test Test Value = 3

tdfSig. (2-tailed)Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

LowerUpperH212.507102.000.6641.5588.7694

So it can be said with 95% confidence that quality of Iranian carpet has a great

influence upon the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

Third hypothesis

Price of carpets will influence the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade

carpets in Isfahan.

In this test, the statistical hypothesis is indicated as follows:

⎩⎨⎧

>≤

3:3:

1

0

µµ

HH

To test this hypothesis, the assumption 1H indicates that the average of response scores

is greater than 3 at confidence level 95%, and the assumption 0H indicates that the

average of response scores is smaller than or equal to 3.

87

According to table 4-10, since the statistic is NOT significant at p ≤ 5%, so 0H is

approved and the opposite assumption 1H is disapproved.

Table 4.4: one-sample t test related to third hypothesis.

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper H3 -.698102.487-.0364-.1398.0670

So it can be said with 95% confidence that price of Iranian carpet has no influence upon

the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

Fourth hypothesis

Beauty of carpets will influence the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade

carpets in Isfahan.

In this test, the statistical hypothesis is indicated as follows:

⎩⎨⎧

>≤

3:3:

1

0

µµ

HH

According to table 4-11, since the statistic is significant at p ≤ 5%, so 0H is

disapproved and the opposite assumption. 1H is approved.

88

Table 4.5: one-sample t test related to fourth hypothesis.

Test Value = 3

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper H4 13.996102.000.7465.6407.8523

So it can be said with 95% confidence that beauty of Iranian carpet has a great influence

upon the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan.

4.4. Ranking the factors influencing the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

carpets in Isfahan

Regarding the data from sampling and using Freedman test, the factors affecting the

attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpets in Isfahan were dealt with in this chapter.

Table 4.6: Ranking the factors influencing the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

carpets in Isfahan.

Ranks Mean Rank

H11.97H43.42H23.09H31.52

Table 4.7: Freedman Test. Test Statistics (a)

N103Chi-Square158.997df3Asymp. Sig..000

Freedman Test

According to table 4.12, among the effective factors on the attitude of tourists shopping

Iranian carpets in Isfahan, the beauty, the quality, and the advertisements by salesmen

89

have the most, the averaged, and the least effect on the attitude of tourists shopping

Iranian carpets in Isfahan with 3.42, 3.09 and 1.97 mean rank, respectively.

4.5 Summary

At first, demographic status of tested sample is studied based on the properties such as

age, nationality, marital status, gender, education level, the aim of travel to Isfahan, …

in this chapter and then the research hypotheses were tested.

90

Chapter 5

Conclusion & recommendations Summary, conclusion, and recommendations:

5.1. Introduction

In this chapter, the researcher reports the main findings according to the analysis of the

research questions, and regarding the findings from testing an examining the research

questions; it is also offers some recommendations for implementing the research results.

This chapter states a brief summary of previous chapters and the results from testing the

research questions, and then offers some recommendations for successive researchers

interested in this field.

5.2. Summary of research

The researcher’s intention of this study was to recognize the factors affecting the

attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets in Isfahan. Having reviewed the

related literatures and the researches done in home and abroad, the factors which could

affect the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade carpets were recognized and

categorized. These factors are: advertisements by salesmen, carpet quality, price, and

carpet beauty.

In the present research, the sample size was determined by conducting a primary study

and defining the variance of primary sample and the intended number of samples was

selected carefully and randomly from the population. Then the validity and reliability of

the questionnaire was determined. The used questionnaire in this research consisted of 5

common, and 28 specialized questions which were supporting the hypotheses of the

research. In the chapter related to the descriptive statistics, the data was analyzed using

the frequency percent techniques, and in the chapter related to the deductive statistics,

one-sample t test was used to analyze and approve/disapprove the questions supporting

the research hypotheses.

91

5.3. Results

The research yielded the following results:

1) Advertising by salesmen influences the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpet in

Isfahan.

2) Quality of carpet influences the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpet in Isfahan.

3) Price of carpet doesn’t influence the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpet in

Isfahan.

4) Beauty of carpet influences the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpet in Isfahan.

5.4. Limitations

1) Due to the education regulations, the period needed for sampling was limited.

Generally, the period for sampling must be long enough to encompass all the factors

affecting foreign tourists’ various behaviors, for example the economical and political

changes can affect foreign tourists’ behavior and decision making.

2) Peoples from different parts of the world have various cultures and relevant

behaviors. So it seems that the results of this study can not be generalized to tourists

from other countries.

3) The range of effective factors on the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian carpet in

Isfahan is vast, and examining all of them is impossible regarding the limited period of

research.

4) According to the result of this research and previous research in Iran, most of tourists

that visit Iran are in their 50s and they are in the category of cultural tourists. Young

tourists are in the category of adventure tourists and naturally they are not interested in

shopping expensive items such as carpet and it has a great impact on the result of this

research.

5) According to statistics European tourists are more interested to travel to Iran in

compare to other nationalities, so in this research European tourists' behavior and

attitude are considered and it creates limitation for this research.

92

5.5. Recommendations

5.5.1. Main propositions

1) Regarding the effect of advertisements by salesmen on the attitude of tourists

shopping Iranian carpet in Isfahan, the salesmen are recommended to focus on the

beauty of the carpets, especially on motives and colors.

2) Regarding the effect of carpet quality on the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

carpet in Isfahan, it is recommended to stick informative labels on the carpets in order

to offer a clear image of the product quality. This label can consist of information as

follows:

- Degree of color fixation, rate of stretchability, wrinkling, brittleness, stability against

water, light, heat, and humidity.

- Compounds

- Type and quality of threads, chemical materials…

- Size, weight, density of warp and woof

- The method of preserving and protecting

3) Regarding the effect of carpet beauty on the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

carpet in Isfahan, it is recommended that the producers of such carpets pay close

attention to the desires and preferences of tourists and try to meet them.

5.5.2. Suggestions for future research

1) Studying the other factors affecting on the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian

handmade carpet.

2) Studying the effective factors in attracting the foreign tourists to Iran.

3) Studying needed actions and efforts to enrich the tourism industry in Iran and to

increase the revenues from this industry.

4) Studying the attitude of tourists shopping other Iranian handicrafts.

5) Studying tourist shopping behavior.

6) Studying tourists’ behavior in term of shopping carpet in Iran and comparing it with

the rival countries from carpet production aspect.

7) Studying the effect of age on tourist shopping behavior.

8) Studying the effect of gender on tourist shopping behavior

93

9) Studying the role of tour guide in the attitude of tourists shopping Iranian handmade

carpet.

10) Studying the Iranian carpet exportation and its effect on tourists in terms of

shopping Iranian handmade carpets.

11) Studying the effect of advertising on shopping Iranian handmade carpets.

12) Studying the effect of price on tourist shopping behavior in less developed

countries.

94

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108

Main questions

Please read each following question and answer only one column on each row.

Questions Strongly disagree

Disagree

No

opinion

Agree

Strongly agree

Item 1 2 3 4 5

1 It is an imagination of a beautiful garden in heaven.

2 Each carpet is unique or one -of- a kind 3 It has local materials, such as colors and wool. 4 It exhibits details in craftsmanship. 5 It has original design from local region that I am visiting. 6 It shows some unique features that not found in other countries.

7 The carpet is made by artisans whose methods have been handed down through generation.

8 The sellers have good carpet knowledge.

9 The sellers are knowledgeable about standards to judge about the quality of carpets.

10 The sellers have a good command of English language. 11 The sellers provide promote service. 12 The carpet shops have attractive discounts and promotions.

13 The carpet shop gives me some Iranian handicrafts as gift to advertise.

14 Special price for carpets are available.

15 In the carpet shops the actual artisans are available to discuss their work or answer questions.

16 The carpet shops show the raw material and tools used to make carpet.

17 The carpet shops provide information about production procedures of the carpets.

18 There are good varieties of carpets in carpet shops. 19 The price of the carpet is fair.

20 The carpet shops provide artisan stories, including photos, CDs

and quotations from artisans.

21 It has the high resistance. 22 It has more ties. 23 It has my favorite size and dimensions. 24 It has a beautiful design. 25 It has the highest quality. 26 It has the lowest price. 27 It matches my house decoration.

28 I will continue to buy carpet in Iran even if the cost of the carpet is higher than any other country.

109

What is your recommendation for a tourist who wants to shop handmade carpets in Isfahan?

Thank you for sharing with us your precious time and opinion.

110

6.2. Appendix B: Research tables

6.2.1. Table of gender result

GENDER

FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative Percent

Validmale5553.455.055.0female4543.745.0100.0Total10097.1100.0

MissingSystem32.9 Total103100.0

6.2.2. Table of nationality result: statistics frequency

NATIONAL NValid101

Missing2Variance53.80535Minimum1.00Maximum28.00

6.2.3. Table of age result: statistics frequency

AGE

NValid102Missing1Variance1.56290Minimum2.00Maximum5.00

6.2.4. AGE

FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid21-312726.226.526.532-411514.614.741.242-511817.517.658.8over 524240.841.2100.0Total10299.0100.0

MissingSystem11.0 Total103100.0

111

6.2.4. Table of marital status result: statistics frequency.

MARITAL NValid100

Missing3Variance.71465Minimum1.00Maximum4.00

MARITAL

FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative Percent

Validsingle3836.938.038.0married4543.745.083.0divorced1110.711.094.0widowed65.86.0100.0Total10097.1100.0

MissingSystem32.9 Total103100.0

6.2.5. Table of education of result: statistics frequency

EDUCATION NValid103

Missing0Variance.81097Minimum1.00Maximum4.00

EDUCATION

FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative Percent

Validhigh school dropped out76.86.86.8

high school1211.711.718.4bachelore degree3735.935.954.4

master or phd4745.645.6100.0Total103100.0100.0

112

6.2.6. First hypothesis: T-Test

One-Sample Statistics

NMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error Mean

H11033.1602.51627.05087 6.2.7. Second hypothesis T-Test

One-Sample Statistics

NMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error Mean

H21033.6641.53885.05309

6.2.8. Third hypothesis T-Test

One-Sample Statistics

NMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error Mean

H31032.9636.52907.05213 6.2.9. Forth hypothesis

T-Test

One-Sample Statistics

NMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error Mean

H41033.7465.54130.05334

T-Test One-Sample Statistics

NMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error Mean

TOTALL1033.4264.44435.04378

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3

tdfSig. (2-tailed)Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

LowerUpperTOTALL9.740102.000.4264.3396.5133

113

6.2.9. Descriptive Statistics

NMinimumMaximumMeanStd. DeviationVarianceQ11031.005.004.2136.80013.640Q21031.005.003.4951.90612.821Q31031.005.003.64081.092351.193Q41031.005.003.22331.204011.450Q51021.005.003.51961.021841.044Q61031.005.003.8738.81264.660Q71032.005.003.9417.81440.663Q81031.005.003.6699.88990.792Q91032.005.003.7282.96196.925Q101031.005.003.4854.90602.821Q111031.005.003.5340.88357.781Q121031.005.003.9417.91636.840Q131031.005.003.51461.027701.056Q141032.005.003.7864.78778.621Q151031.005.003.5825.90233.814Q161031.005.003.37861.067491.140Q171031.005.003.4175.95511.912Q181031.005.002.34951.091041.190Q191031.005.003.3689.86308.745Q201031.005.002.9417.87251.761Q211031.005.002.72821.049691.102Q221031.005.003.0388.80345.646Q231031.005.002.86411.085091.177Q241031.005.002.8544.99418.988Q251031.005.003.51461.027701.056Q261031.005.003.4175.96532.932Q271031.005.004.0388.88475.783Q281031.005.003.1165.84367.712Q291031.005.002.6311.87437.765Q301031.005.003.2524.81311.661Q311031.005.003.31071.029271.059Q321032.005.003.4951.71227.507Q331032.005.003.4466.68210.465Q341031.005.003.7184.80947.655Q351031.005.003.9417.86120.742Q361031.005.003.5631.91469.837Q371031.005.002.8155.88282.779Q381031.005.003.6699.87882.772Q391031.005.003.4466.90454.818Q401031.005.003.6893.82876.687Q411031.005.002.88351.031861.065Valid N (listwise)102

114

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Reliability 6.2.10. ****** Method 2 (covariance matrix) will be used for this analysis ****** _

R E L I A B I L I T Y A N A L Y S I S - S C A L E (A L P H A)

N of Cases = 30.0

Item Variances Mean Minimum Maximum Range Max/Min Variance .6290 .2299 1.6828 1.4529 7.3200 .2808

Reliability Coefficients 41 items

Alpha = .8108 Standardized item alpha = .8097